


Simple Things

by ScrewzLooze



Category: GOT7
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Merman Jaebum, Minor Character Death, Sailor Jinyoung, Sailor Youngjae, Shy Im Jaebum | JB, Siren Jaebum, light fluff, side Yugbam, side markson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-18 09:05:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 46,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11871066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrewzLooze/pseuds/ScrewzLooze
Summary: Caught in a storm on a family boat trip, Jinyoung and his parents are washed over to a territory with a colony of merman and mermaids living underneath. In fear of being attacked, the sirens seduce Jinyoung’s parents, leading them to drown. Over days of struggling against the currents, the sea washes Jinyoung ashore, from which day on he swears vengeance on the creatures for his parents’ death. Years later, promising his loyal service to the South Korean navy’s special unit as a siren hunter, he helps locate and collect mercreatures worldwide. After a few months of training at the Academy, Jinyoung suspects the colony he lost his parents at still exists, so he sails to that spot, ready to report it for collection. However, he meets a merman there who tries to change his mind. Jinyoung is forced to seek the truth between two ends, each trying to pull him to their side. It leads him to discover a series of questions concerning the values he’s been standing for.





	1. Reasons

**Author's Note:**

> September 2017 Update: If you want to see a beautiful artwork of how Jaebum looks in this story, here are the links to the artist named Miki who drew one:  
> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BZpG1OpAgRe/?taken-by=mikimisiu  
> Tumblr: http://miki-draws.tumblr.com/  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/monikirogers
> 
> This time, I experimented with writing more on Jinyoung’s perspective and keep the JJP dynamics fresh. Making Jinyoung the siren would have been an obvious choice but I think this played out much better the other way. (Also, Jaebum has been showing more of his shy side in his vlives and JJP promotions lately, so this story takes a refreshing break from the qualities I like to highlight about him in my other works). As a side note, BamBam’s hair is red in this piece, which was before Mark colored his the same shade for the upcoming GOT7 comeback. 
> 
> I already finished writing this story but because it’s ~45,000 words, I divided it into chapters to make it easier for reading.
> 
> I wanted to take you on an adventure of some sort, something that goes a little beyond the taste of fanfiction and more like a novel, which is why a large part of the beginning is focused on building up Jinyoung’s character. I hope you will find accompanying him through his past fun, as it brings him to Jaebum.  
> In addition, I experimented with incorporating more GOT7 members into the plot. Each pairing in the story serves an important function for Jinyoung’s journey. I hope that won’t take away from JJP and it will enrich your reading experience!
> 
> My usual disclaimer: I apologize in advance if there is any inconsistency or error that proofreading didn’t touch upon, considering that English is not my native language. All rights go to all the people for all the things I don't own for this piece of sin. You see the tags, something is not up your alley, save yourself in time.

“Happy 11th Birthday Jinyoungie!”

Jinyoung looked up from his homework to see his parents rush toward him, holding a modest but tastefully decorated cake, candles shaped as the number ‘eleven’ sticking out in the middle. They burned brightly, freshly ignited. Jinyoung spun around to jump off his chair, dropping the pencil from his hand.

“Mom, dad, you didn’t have to!” He rejoiced, unable to help the huge smile pulling on his face in contrast to his words.

He didn’t get to have a birthday cake every year because they couldn’t always afford it. But he was grateful, knowing that his parents did their best to give him something each time.

However, this year deemed special, as even after Jinyoung blew the candle flames away, his father proceeded to pull an envelope out from the pocket of his worn denim jacket.

Jinyoung looked at him with his eyebrows knit together, confused as to what could be in the envelope.

“There’s more.” His father explained with a gentle smile on his face.

Jinyoung’s mother placed her hands on Jinyoung’s shoulders, squeezing them encouragingly.

“More? What do you mean?”

“It’s for you, Jinyoungie.” His mother said, bending forward to place a kiss on the top of Jinyoung’s head.  
  
Jinyoung’s eyes brightened up, greedily reaching for his gift to rip open.

His parents intertwined their hands, watching Jinyoung pull out a brochure and start reading its content out loud.

_“Morning Tour of the Yellow Sea – If you’ve ever wondered what a one-on-one sailing trip would be like with an experienced sailor on the perimeters of one of the most beautiful seas in the world, then this trip is for you! The Yellow Sea, named after its yellow color because of the mineral rich water, is home to a prosperous fishing ground and several migratory birds.  
Come for an entire morning and early afternoon of smooth sailing, recommended for people dipping their tones into sailing for the first time, as well as an excellent opportunity to leave behind the city’s noise for a weekend. Also recommended for participants under the age of 21 for a family getaway.”_

“Do you like it?” His father asked, a pinch of nervousness underlying his voice as he shuffled on his feet.

After a brief pause, Jinyoung exclaimed,

“Wow…this is the best birthday ever!” He pressed the brochure to his chest tightly as if it was some kind of treasure, looking at his parents before hugging them. His father sighed in relief, ruffling Jinyoung’s hair.

“We saw you’ve been reading books about ships and whatnot. Perhaps it will be fun to be on one.”

“I already can’t wait!”

“A lot of the shorebirds will also be visible now, because your birthday conveniently falls at the end of the Autumn season, exactly when many birds from Russia and Alaska migrate there for breeding. This trip was meant for you, the waters are the prettiest on your birthday…We might also be able to see a lot of baby birds!” Explained Jinyoung’s mother, who was always very knowledgeable, the source of the main reason why Jinyoung loved to read from an early age.

He nodded enthusiastically, pulling the brochure away from his chest to admire it further.

In the meantime, her mother took out some baked chicken and potato puree she made beside the birthday cake, the family coming together at the round dinner table in a celebratory mood, rarely finding the time or money to do something like this regularly. But today, they pushed that thought aside, all eyes and attention surrounding Jinyoung instead.

@@@

Jinyoung stayed up almost all night, skimming through the novel that got his parents the idea. He laid on his stomach, reading beside his nightstand with his feet lazily dangling off the edges of the bed. He was flipping through the pages, imaging himself in the place of the protagonist.

He heard a quiet knock on his door before seeing his mother peek out from behind.

“You should be sleeping so you will be well rested for tomorrow!” She scolded, trying to encourage Jinyoung to be responsible. At the same time, she couldn’t help the way her heart melted, seeing her son love his birthday gift so much as to keep him up until hours he was long asleep during any other day.

“I can’t help it, mom. I’m so excited…” He whispered, scooting to the side to let her sit beside him.

She ran her fingers through Jinyoung’s hair, caressing his face with a small smile on her lips. Jinyoung grinned, not quiet growing out of being his mother’s “little” boy just yet.

“It must have been so expensive…” He pondered, placing the book halfway open onto his chest as he closed his eyes at the warmth of her mother’s hand.

“That doesn’t matter, honey. You deserve it…You deserve the world. I only wish I could give you a birthday present every year.” She said, struggling to hold back her tears, which in turn made Jinyoung’s eyes water as well.

“I love you and dad so much…I don’t need a gift every year. It feels more special this way.” He whispered, trying to stay optimistic to ease the weight on his parents’ shoulders.

She smiled at her son’s selflessness, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead.

“You can continue reading the book tomorrow. Get some sleep now.” She said, willing her tears away, wanting to stay strong in front of her son before getting up to leave the room.

Jinyoung sighed, looking at the cover of the book with a picture on it of a ship encased inside a glass bottle. He couldn’t wait to feel what it’s like to stand on a ship, wondering if he was one of those people who would get seasick.

He hoped not, as he placed the book on his nightstand, turning off the light and snuggling under the covers of his blanket.

@@@

The weather was lukewarm and humid the next day. Jinyoung had his fishing hat on, matching with his father, which kept a cheeky grin on his mother’s face, trying not to laugh at them.

They took the bus to Busan until the last stop, at which point the harbor was a ten minute walk away.

Jinyoung’s mother was right - there were already quite a few gulls walking nearby the waters and flying around the area in circles. Their white feathers against the background of somber skies quite a sight to behold, adding more to Jinyoung’s excitement. His mother explained that most of the birds actually settled at the rocky shores of Dalian, bordering China and the Jeju Province, but Jinyoung was still happy to see at least the bigger birds here, many of them occasionally squarking and chirping as they elegantly turned with each flap of their wings.

The air tasted dense and salty, and no city lights or decoration could cover up how polluted the waters were. With time, the Yellow Sea started to look more brownish than yellow, its minerals progressively plundered under all the factory waste dumped into it carelessly.

But for Jinyoung, it looked now as beautiful as can be, his first trip on the water, with his parents, on his birthday, enough to help him ignore the crude reality.

The guide was already standing nearby the boat, holding up a large cardboard sign with “Morning Tour of the Yellow Sea” written across the front. Jinyoung excitedly rushed forward, leaving his parents behind, who watched him with a fond smile perking their tired faces up into a youthful look.

“It was so worth it.” Uttered Jinyoung’s mother.

“It was. But…I’m a little anxious. Look at the clouds above us,” Jinyoung’s father responded in a low whisper, pointing discreetly toward the sky with his hand that wasn’t holding her waist. “Those clouds are not just some gloomy morning clouds. They look a little too dark for my liking. I don’t want to be the one to ruin the mood…but I just had to tell you.”

“Would you like us to reconsider this trip? It’s not too late.”

“No…I don’t know. He puts up a lot with us. We hardly ever spend time together. This is his day. I shouldn’t have brought it up…”

Jinyoung’s mother became increasingly concerned, and Jinyoung caught on that, as he swung around to look back at them. He furrowed his brows together,

“Is there something wrong, mom?”

She shook her head gently, more so for herself than for Jinyoung, forcing a small smile on her lips,

“No, honey, nothing’s wrong. Let’s get going.”

As they got closer to the boat, the guide cheerfully began,

“Welcome aboard! If you are concerned about the weather - don’t be. The weather forecasts predicted no rain for today, and we will continue to keep a close eye on it as we go through the trip. I have my monitor right here with me at all times attached to the boat. In addition, there are enough life vests stored up under the decks for all of us in case of emergency. Now, based on the information you had to fill out, only Mr. Park can swim, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“In case of emergency, I will take care of Mrs. Park and you will take care of,” The guide looked down on his notes, then glanced back up, “Jinyoung? Right?”

Jinyoung nodded proudly, eager to start sailing.

The boat was small despite it being advertised as a perfect “family getaway”, but for the price and the politeness of the service thus far, Jinyoung’s parents were glad they stuck with it.

Jinyoung sat down beside the sailor, Mr. Bhuwakul, who explained to him how the motor engine of the boat works. In the meantime, Jinyoung’s parents cuddled up at the other end of the boat, observing the large shore rocks and the gulls towering on top of them, searching for food.

Once they started sailing, Jinyoung curiously asked,

“I’m reading a book about a pirate, and in the last chapter, he met a mermaid. Some say they exist, some say they don’t, but I would rather know your opinion, Mr. Bhuwakul.”

“First of all, just call me BamBam. I don't like when people call me Mr. Bhuwakul, it makes me feel older. And I’m telling you, I feel younger each day!” He grinned, the stubble on his face more apparent with the smile. “To answer your question – yes, they exist. There’s nothing to argue about.” He stated as a matter-of-fact, staring ahead while he drove. Some of the water kept splattering onto their faces, making the man’s hair stick to his forehead. Jinyoung had no idea how old he might be, but his voice was deep, despite having a young-looking face. His hair color was a shade of flaming red, which was an unusual choice for people even in their early 20s. He had several bracelets covering his wrists, the names of a different city printed on each with bold letters. He seemed very adventurous, but at the same time, also someone who had seen a lot, only making him want to see that much more.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I used to be a merchant before taking this as a side-job. It doesn’t pay much, it’s more like a hobby. I’ve been to all the seas and oceans of this world. I’ve seen unspoken beauty, Jinyoung. _Beautiful creatures_.”

“You saw one? A real mermaid?” Jinyoung gasped.

“Yes. A merman. He was…I don’t think I’ve seen something quiet as beautiful. I know I’m overusing the word, but I swear, if you’ve ever seen a smile that bright…He had this dark, chocolate brown hair with a blue tint on the side, ruffled up and messy. He had something like a fringe. You know what mermen look like, yeah?”

“Half-human, half fish?”

“Hm. His face was just like a boy’s. His tail was the same color as the tint in his hair. It suited him nicely. So, _so_ nicely.”

Jinyoung watched the man’s face turn dreamy and his eyes foggy, like a window on a cold day outside against the warmth of the heater beside it, forming a thin layer of vapor over the glass.

“He crunched his nose up everytime he laughed, he sounded almost like a big baby.” The man chuckled, wiping fake tears away with his index finger. “My Gyeomie - I called him. He always clapped and squeaked when he heard that name. The most playful guy I’ve ever met. He often pranked me by pretending to be a shark using his tail. My silly baby…He either made me want to rip my hair out from frustration or made me want to kiss him all day. With my Gyeomie, there was no in-between. But they are a lot like flowers, you know. When you see it, it’s so beautiful, you want it for yourself. You want to take it home. Don’t do that, don’t rip it out of the soil. It will die away! You got to keep it there, and go back to it or leave as is. These creatures shouldn’t be a décor. But the government,” He leaned toward Jinyoung, looking around cautiously as if someone would be listening in, “they collect them. They think merman and mermaids are dangerous.”

“The book I’m reading said – “

“Eyy,” BamBam stepped back, raising his hand to stop Jinyoung before he could begin, “Those books don’t know a thing. The merman showed me his colony. They live in colonies, a lot of them concentrating in certain areas since they get more and more pushed out of the oceans. Mark my word, they were not dangerous at all! Look at me now! I’m alive and well! Maybe a little heartbroken, because I had to leave him, but some day, through my travels, I think I will meet him again. Which is why I sail the waters every single day. It doubles my chances of seeing him once more.”

“B-but what about their voice? The sirens?”

“If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. Period.” The guide’s face then grew stern as he looked back at Jinyoung.

Jinyoung gulped, deciding not to bug the sailor any further, even though the books wrote about sirens who purposefully seduce humans so they can drown them. As if the man could read his thoughts from his expression, he went on to explain,

“There’s only one problem with sirens, Jinyoung. They don’t have to try to seduce you. It will happen on its own. I can’t name a single sailor who met a mercreature and didn’t catch feelings. Sailors who had seen sirens didn’t die from their voice. They fell in love! And one way or another, that love for them led to their demise. I already know my baby Gyeomie is my destiny. And what a destiny it is! I will either suffocate while kissing him or die somehow along the way that leads me to him. Never mourn me, though. For a sailor, dying at the hands of the sea is the only dignified death one could wish for. I’m dancing with death every day of my life. Don’t be afraid to fall in love with a siren. Remember – we are here for a good time, not a long time!”

The man seemed ecstatic, and Jinyoung couldn’t wrap his head around how in the world someone could smile this happily while talking about his own death.

As to how dangerous sirens were, it seemed like the truth lied somewhere in the middle, between BamBam’s words and the books. Jinyoung settled with that conclusion for now, leaning over the side of the boat to stare at the yellow waters, letting the sailor softly hum along to the sea waves rocking them.

However, there was a sound of thunder coming from above suddenly, dark clouds appearing on the horizon. Sitting in the back, Jinyoung’s parents could also feel the waves get higher and more frequent, making their bodies slightly bump up with each one passing by.

Jinyoung worriedly looked at the sailor, his lips parted, wanting to ask what was happening.

“It’s all right, Mother Nature is doing her thing. It will calm down soon, the weather report –,” he begun, but couldn’t finish it, interrupted by another thunder, lasting much longer this time.

“I think we should turn back.” Jinyoung’s father suggested, holding tightly onto Jinyoung’s mother.

“We can’t. We’re halfway, no matter which way we go, it won’t make a difference.” The sailor claimed, wiping the water and sweat off of his face with the back of his hand as he stared into the distance, then back onto his monitor. “I don’t understand. Just minutes ago, it reported nothing severe.”

“So you mean… _now_ , it will be _severe_?” Jinyoung’s mother asked, trying not to look frightened for her son’s sake, but then the rain started pouring as if someone dumped a bucket full of it on them. It almost filled up the boat halfway, which was rocking uncontrollably against the increasingly high and powerful currents.

“Let’s put on the vests!” The sailor yelled over the thunder, reaching for his keys that opened the deck. But in that moment, a huge wave rose up from a meter away, enough to engulf the end of the vehicle with Jinyoung’s parents on it.

Jinyoung screamed after his parents, his mother almost falling out of the boat.

“We need to stay calm, I –“

“Stay calm?” Jinyoung’s father spat, too late to catch himself before saying it, “Stay calm?! We could die out here!”

Jinyoung started shaking, tears gathering in his eyes as he rushed to his parents.

The small boat against the large currents stood little chance. Before the sailor could open the deck to take out the vests, the keys slipped out of his grasp, sinking into the large puddle that was starting to spread over most of the boat. He bent down to pick it up, but the tossing of the waves kicked him out of balance, turning the boat to its side with BamBam falling into the waters.

“Mr. Bhuwakul!” Jinyoung reached after him, trying to save others even when his own life was at risk, but his parents pulled him back by the arm, their embrace holding the family together. They watched the sailor’s head buck out every now and then - once, twice, and one last time, before he fully disappeared under the raging currents.

Jinyoung buried his head into his mother’s chest to hide his sobs. He was terrified of losing his parents.

He would never forgive himself.

 

The currents kept washing them further and further into the horizon, into a narrow alley of rocks, where the boat kept clashing against their sides, almost breaking the entire vehicle.

“Mom, D-dad, if this is the l-last time I-I see you…I –“

“No, honey, this is not the last time. This is not it. We will survive.” Jinyoung’s mother assured, even though she was crying as much as Jinyoung, knowing all too well that the only thing keeping them alive was luck and hope.

Jinyoung’s father shakily pointed toward the waters with his head, yelling over the storm,

“I just saw something that looked like a huge tail. What if there are sharks or something over there?”

Jinyoung’s mother wailed, unable to hide her fear anymore. She buried her face in Jinyoung’s shoulder, gripping him closer to her chest protectively.

A larger wave came to wash over them soon, tilting the boat forward, causing Jinyoung and his parents to slide down. Jinyoung hit his head against the motor, knocking him unconscious.

Everything went black and quiet for a long time, his last memory being another thunderbolt striking and more water splashing onto his face, before he woke up to the sound of singing.

He slowly opened his eyes, not completely remembering where he was until he noticed his parents leaning over the boat, their heads hanging just inches above the water. Jinyoung scrambled to his feet, screaming after them.

“What are you doing?! Mom? Dad?”

But as if no one was talking to them, they remained as they were, and Jinyoung tried to locate the source of the singing, bending to the side to reveal two mercreatures, a merman and a mermaid, holding his parents’ faces in their hands.

“R-real s-sirens?” He stuttered to himself, trying to calm down and remember the sailor’s words.

_“If you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. Period.”_

But that didn’t seem to be the case. They were very much singing, although Jinyoung was left unaffected by it. With that sobriety, he watched the mermaid lean in and kiss his father, staring at him with her eyes half-open, his body slowly beginning to slip out of the boat under her spell.

He almost just _flowed_ into the water, as if he had no bones in his body. All of his muscles were relaxed like he never used them in his life, lips frozen in a gasp when the water swallowed him in the mermaid’s embrace.

Jinyoung yelled after him, to no use, holding onto the belief that whatever was going on, his mother will snap out of it. But the merman was already running his fingers through her hair, peppering her face with gentle kisses.

Jinyoung could still see her body shake with each sob, her tears endless as she forced herself to turn around, looking into her son’s eyes,

“Jinyoung…”

The merman tilted her face back toward himself, kissing her lips soothingly, as she then fell into the waters like Jinyoung’s father.

The boat kept rocking afterwards, translating a rhythm, that in any other situation would be calming, into an incomprehensible reality.

Jinyoung ran to the spot his parents stood at, looking at the waters and screaming after them until his throat hurt, knowing it was a lost cause when no response came.

The boat was the only thing left in near sight around him, stranded in the middle of nowhere without his parents. He fell to his knees, holding onto the edges of the boat for dear life, sobbing his heart out.

He cried until he exhausted himself, his head dull from bumping it against the motor, the shock of the events fracturing his sense of time and space. He ended up sleeping through the afternoon, only to wake up being in the same situation - in the darkness of the night this time.

With nothing to eat or drink, his body and mind turned numb under the trauma, his presence reduced to little more than a body lying on the decks, barely alive.

The night was freezing cold, his shoddy pants offering no protection against neither the chilly winds of the sea breeze, nor the sunlight, burning him until darkness came again. He slept dreamlessly, hoping he won’t wake up to live another day in misery all alone.

He couldn’t understand what happened but denial was rubbing off with each day. At first, he could pretend everything was just a nightmare but his growling stomach, heavy eyelids, and sunburns dragged him to the point of recognition, seeing it could not be a nightmare anymore. His skin hurt all the more from the salty waters he was bathing in, the peeling skin as a result of the sunburns never allowing his wounds to heal. Even blinking hurt from his irritated and puffy eyelids, so he kept them closed, staying curled up in a ball to preserve body heat during the night.

Just when he thought he will burn or starve to death, he heard seagulls squarking, which meant he had to be near some kind of dry land. He estimated from the number of nights he woke up that he must had been struggling against the currents for about four days.

The boat then suddenly stopped moving, hitting the edges of the island, and the sound of metal clashing against metal filled the area as people ran towards him, their swords and jewelry ringing with each stride.

He heard people speaking in Korean as a man jumped into the boat, crouching over Jinyoung’s face and starting to lightly slap his cheeks to wake him up. When Jinyoung didn’t respond to that, too exhausted and unbothered to move, the stranger grabbed his wrist, looking for his pulse with his thumb, letting out a loud, relieved sigh at finding a slow but steady rhythm beating underneath.

“Thank the gods of the sea! He’s alive!”

“He’s good?”

“He’s good but he looks a bit crusty.” He joked, easily lifting Jinyoung into his arms as he carried him to his friends, who were sitting at a table playing poker just minutes before.

“Damn, poor child. What in the heavens is he doing here alone?”

One of the men walked back to the boat to inspect it, coming back with a necklace held high in his hand, the look in his eyes a telltale of the unspoken realization among them.

“Another one bit the dust…probably his mother.” He whispered, looking at the small gold chains connecting together to form a delicate necklace, with a sapphire stone hanging in the center.

“What are we going to do with him?” Another one of the strangers asked, looking at the peeling skin and blisters on Jinyoung’s body. The skin on his face was cracked, covered in crystals, dried on his face from the tears and sea salt.

Jinyoung, scared that they would leave him there, carefully tried to move his fingers, attempting to sit up.

“Thank goodness he’s awake!” One of them exclaimed, helping Jinyoung move, letting the boy lean against his chest with his back.

“It’s all going to be alright, buddy. You are in good hands, we are right here.” He said, the other men smiling and nodding along, sticking strongly to their unwritten code of ethics when it came to children.

“I…My p-parents died…the s-sirens…” Jinyoung rambled, the tears painfully stinging his eyes at the memories rapidly overtaking his mind.

The man tried to calm him down, letting Jinyoung take his time to tell the entire story. They listened quietly, but it was nothing new.

“I lost my best friend a couple of weeks ago at the East Sea.”

“It’s getting more and more frequent. Something’s rubbing the waters the wrong way.”

“I lost half of my crew just two months ago. You are not alone.”

“Alright, that’s true, we all lost somebody but he’s just a kid. How old even are you?”

“I’m eleven.” Jinyoung mumbled, and everyone hissed up as if someone smacked them on the arm, ruefully looking at each other.

“Do you have someone to go home to?”

When Jinyoung broke down sobbing in lieu of an answer, they rubbed the back of their necks, not knowing what to do that could save the situation.

“You are on Jeju Islands right now, luckily you got washed ashore to a good place. We will call the police, get you home…pay for your travel and whatever you need, we are merchants, we can afford that, am I right boys?”

Everyone agreed right away, each patting Jinyoung on the back.

“Then…you will take it from there. I’m sorry about what happened to you. Stay strong, kid.” The stranger said before looking at his friends. “And now, let’s get him something to eat, he’s only skin and bones!”

While the merchants got to their feet at the order, bringing food and alcohol to clean Jinyoung’s wounds, the guy who found the necklace walked up to him, softly taking Jinyoung’s hand into his, the necklace crunched in his palm as he dropped it into Jinyoung’s, curling the boy’s fingers back before letting him go.

“I found this in the boat. I think it’s your mother’s…Take your time.”

He said apologetically, walking away to help the rest of the merchants, leaving Jinyoung the space to collect himself.

Jinyoung shakily unbent his fingers, revealing the necklace, his tears pouring down like rain onto the blue stone at the sight. Sapphire, the birthstone of September, the gift his father bought his mother after Jinyoung was born. He spent two years saving up for a jewelry like that. It used to be beautiful, hanging around his mother’s neck, the royal blue and pale gold an artful contrast against his mother’s cool, beige skin.

Now, it was just a relic, lying in Jinyoung’s quivering hand. A symbol that used to stand for a new beginning turned into signaling the end – of childhood, of family, of a chapter in Jinyoung’s life with no promise of any continuation.

He raised it to his forehead, his body collapsing with each sob, as he murmured,

“I promise I will find them. This was the last time. They won’t get away…I won’t let this happen to anybody else.”

He laid back down, swaying back and forth on the table as he swore to the sea soundly washing against the rocky land beside him,

“Never again.”

@@@

“Please, Jinyoung. Think this through. Sleep on it one more night.” Begged the head of his university, arguing with Jinyoung for another hour.

“It’s final, Mr. Jung. I’m joining the navy.”

“What is wrong with you, Jinyoung? You are an excellent student. You have such a promising future in the entertainment industry. You are good at so many things, you could move around like a flea! Do you have a death wish?”

“Here we go again, but I won’t let us argue any longer, Mr. Jung. With all due respect, I know what I’m doing. You see my grades are falling, I can’t work four jobs and do school full time for another year. I’ve been doing this for three years, I feel dead everytime I think about memorizing another script or writing another song. I want to…serve in the navy’s special unit…I want to sail again.”

“Is this about that secret family thing you once mentioned? What happened? Why can’t you tell me?”

“You wouldn’t believe me. Besides…it’s personal, and I don’t owe you anything other than the gratitude for your work which I’ve long given you. Now, as an adult, I need you to take my word seriously. We’ve been going one step forward and two steps back with this discussion for years. I feel it’s growing increasingly one-sided. You are unwilling to compromise, and at this point, so am I. So please, _please_ , Mr.  Jung, grant me the permission to join the navy. I’ve slept on the decision hundreds of times. This is what I want. Another night will not change anything.”

Jinyoung finished, breathless from the exhaustion as he stared pleadingly into the principal’s eyes.

The man rubbed the bridge of his noise, pushing his reading glasses up, hoping it would ease his headache.

He took another look at Jinyoung’s transcript, confirming that Jinyoung was doing worse each semester despite his abilities - the boy just didn’t care anymore.

The principal sighed at the recognition, seeing how stubborn Jinyoung was, and he knew another night will not change his mind, only hoping he could somehow temporize the process until Jinyoung was older.  
  
But he always knew.

Disappointed, he glanced back at Jinyoung with sorrow in his eyes.  
  
Jinyoung swallowed hard, rubbing his palms back and forth over his pants, trying to ease his nervousness.

But then, he watched the principal take out a piece of paper from his top drawer, his forehead wrinkled from the concerned look on his face as he reached for the stamp, far at the corner of his desk, inking the official logo and signature onto the paper.

“ _Permission: Granted_ ”.

“You are making a mistake.” The man said, voice monotone, scoffing at seeing Jinyoung joyfully reach for the paper, his eyes glued to the stamped words. The principal buried his face in his hands as he turned his chair around, looking anywhere but at Jinyoung.

“Thank you for your time and consideration, Mr. Jung. I will send my application to the ROK in about a week. I will inform you whether I got accepted or not as soon as I hear back from them.” Jinyoung explained, bowing his head and closing the door behind himself without looking back.

The principal stared at the skyline of the city before him, growling as he got up to shut the view close with the curtains hanging around, not bearing to see the sunlight.

@@@

Jinyoung was sitting at his desk in his studio apartment, walls cracked and the city’s noise easily seeping through the thinly molded walls. He was seated at his laptop, the only luxury he could afford, while drowning his brain in coffee, working on his application essay since dinner time.

He was motivated by a mix of agony and exasperation, both with his current life circumstances and his past. When in doubt, like always, he reached for the necklace around his neck, squeezing the sapphire stone as if it would help him find the right words.

He wanted to show the sincerity of his pain and tell the truth about what brought him to apply but he also didn’t want to come across pathetic and someone who holds grudges forever, even if there was some truth behind his occasional pettiness. He wanted to shine with his essay, bringing an image of himself into the reader’s head as a grown man who knows what he’s up to.

He eventually settled with a brief essay, barely reaching the word minimum, keeping it concise to further show his confidence.  
  
              _“…I want to create a world where, if my parents and I were to go on that trip again, they would have stayed alive to reach the Jeju Islands with me. A world with seas and oceans where no creatures lurk beneath in large numbers, trying to kill innocent and oblivious travelers. But that world doesn't exist yet. I want to make the waters safer for the millions of families that are helpless on their own against the sirens, the merchants and sailors who bring wealth to our country, without getting killed on the way before they could even reach us. For all the people who never got home after sailing the seas, I hope to change their numbers._  
_Beyond the frustration I feel, I’m more driven to serve South Korea and its people for this virtuous mission of the special unit. We exist among monsters who shouldn’t inhabit our waters. There’s nothing in the world that could convince me otherwise. Therefore, I’m ready to offer my service and life to the mission of the ROK._ ”

After filling out the other standard questions and surveys, he hit the “submit” button, hoping for the best. He made no B plan for his future, always knowing exactly what he wanted. If not the ROK, then nothing would do.

Every single day, even when he knew there was no way he could have gotten a response yet, Jinyoung anxiously checked his mail box in the mass apartment building, #36 among the 120. It was overcrowded, smelled of piss, the painting on the sides of the building crumbling off like the insides of Jinyoung’s room, unsafe for anyone to live there but it was all he could afford. He was ready to leave this life behind and live for a more fulfilling, glorious purpose, where his parents would be proud of what he had become.

After a couple of weeks, Jinyoung checked his letter box again to find this time, besides the spam and bills, a white envelope crunched into it, bent at the edges from someone sloppily pushing it through the narrow opening. As hoped, printed in one of its corners was the logo of the ROK, the red and blue colors of the South Korean flag fusing together within a circle, anchors pierced through its top all the way to the end. Jinyoung let out a sharp breath like he had been punched in the gut, running up the stairs to the frustration of his neighbors.

Upon shredding it open, he found the standard acceptance letter beside another, hand-written letter by the Captain.

_“Mr. Park - Welcome. You have successfully sworn oath to serve the mission of hundreds of brave sailors worldwide. You are about to contribute to the saving of countless lives. I hope you will represent and serve the nation of South Korea with the pride which we have bestowed this opportunity on you. What happened to your parents should have never happened. Way too many people get fooled by these monsters. You are not one of them. Sometimes, we need a tragedy in our lives to sober us up… to help us see what's really under the surface. You were strong enough to use this tragedy to add to your purpose. This is exactly where you belong.  
After the standard welcoming ceremony, first thing in the morning, I would like you to meet me in my office so I can take you on a colony hunt. This is an exclusive opportunity. Your brightness and drive have not gone unnoticed, so I hope you will live with the offer.”_

The paper trembled between Jinyoung’s hands as he held it closer to his face more than he needed it to, reading over the letters repeatedly until he couldn’t see them from the tears obscuring his vision.

This moment was a long time in the making, and he sank to his knees, letting himself sob for the first time in years.

He let his tears go every now and then when things got overwhelming, when he felt like he won’t find the will to live for another day. There were nights when it took almost too long for the sun to arrive. But now, it seemed like surviving was worth it.

No single sheet of paper ever felt this heavy; it was like Jinyoung held his entire life pressed between the pads of his fingers.

As soon as the tears ceased, he got to his feet and started packing, feeling like that foolish eleven-year-old, up all night, too excited to fall asleep.


	2. Outcomes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on Jinyoung’s team dynamics with Youngjae and Mark, as well as how he comes to terms with visiting the colony that is responsible for his parents’ death. It leads us to the next and last chapter where Jinyoung and Jaebum meet. I hope you will enjoy seeing the conflicts build up in Jinyoung’s journey and how they will affect his decisions in the near future.

Jinyoung stood among a mid-sized crowd of men and women similar to his age, although some of them a little older. They all had their dark blue and white uniforms on, hats secured to their hair sharply pointing toward the ceiling. A few people already had conversations with others around them, but Jinyoung remained silent and observant, feeling somewhat intimidated. He didn’t know what to expect and didn’t know himself enough to learn what he was capable of. His own skills and talents that could help him keep his promise from years ago were as much of a mystery to him as to the next stranger beside him who didn’t even know his name. But Jinyoung had a curious personality, and under the layers of concern and nervousness, there lied some more than enough eagerness and readiness to explore who he truly was.

The noise in the room gradually died down as the Captain’s formidable figure stopped at the center of the stage, absorbing the limelight.

“Let me welcome you all to the Academy. You are here because your nation is ready to trust the safety of their waters into your, as of yet, trembling - _but soon_ fearless hands. You are not just ordinary officers. Your job entails _extreme_ dangers, the kind mythologies of centuries and ancient empires had spoken of. You are facing a danger that exited in one way or another long before your time, making an initially disregarded fear, now very much an evident threat to nations bordering oceans today. If you are not ready to reach out to your destiny, you’ve chosen a fruitless career for yourself. Fear is one thing, giving into it is a whole other beast. The former is a quality which helps set you apart from the monsters you will hunt for, while the latter dooms you as an unacceptable candidate for the job. Victory beholds glory, and it does so at a price more precious than many people are willing to pay. You are here because nothing is more precious to you than this nation. Fear not, with this mission at heart, we are prepared to be victorious.”

Even though the Captain was about to continue, inhaling deeply through his nose, nothing could keep the crowd at bay. The sea of youth, as powerful as ever, with their cheering and clapping filled up the huge auditorium with sound strong enough to visibly shake the windows, resulting in the seagulls that sat on the windowsills to fly away. Some students even took their hats off, waving it high into the air. The energy of the crowd was contagious, filling up Jinyoung’s lungs until he cheered with them, his hands finding their way to his necklace, holding it tightly between his palms.

He often felt like he died on that boat trip with his parents, just his body making it this far. His single way of knowing that he still walked the earth was the constant misery and nightmares. Nightmares haunting him night after night, forcing him to relive the death of his parents, and the feeling of himself suffocating but never dying, strung in a tortuous purgatory. Now, he felt like a mirror was put in front of him in the shape of a crowd, recognizing himself among the living.

The Captain nodded toward the senior and junior officers watching in the back, this year’s cohort proving to be a promising group of sailors.

Despite the unstoppable energy of the crowd, the show had to go on, and so the Captain raised his hand to silence the sailors, continuing on with his speech,

“It is still a widely debated topic whether sirens are real or not. That is because those who see it never live to tell the tale. But you will, because we will specifically prepare you how to survive encounters with them. You will wear a device over your ears at all times that helps filter through the notes in the sirens’ voice that turns sane, ordinary people into mindless zombies. You will also have your weapons. Most people who encounter these monsters have little defense - if anything - against them. As you know, the country is slowly opening up to introducing the existence of mercreatures into the mainstream knowledge, now that we have more sophisticated techniques and technologies to keep them under control in case regular people would get too “interested” and try to hunt them on their own. Or, to be an idiot and try befriending them. Believe me, there are plenty of examples of that.  
Once caught, the sirens are sorted into two categories: the ones who are friendly and tame get to enjoy being in public aquariums that only the wealthier layer of the population can afford as of yet. That will soon change with our contributions! The second group, which as you can expect from monsters like them, is the majority – the ones who are quiet useless to be even looked at. They are wild, vicious, and speak of their real nature underneath the human skin hiding it. They are devils in disguise, the only touch of humanity to them stops after the upper body. We keep them at this station to monitor and observe them, furthering our defense technologies and knowledge. But, we are not monsters like them, so accordingly to that, you are welcome to see for yourself the _luxurious_ conditions they live in. We call the area the aquatic reservation, sorted into separate smaller reservations by colonies based in the area we found them so that we can detect any significant differences between their behavior or genetic makeup. But you will learn about these things more in the upcoming Academy lectures, many of which I will personally teach you, starting with the first one tomorrow afternoon.  
For now - you will be divided into smaller teams. Each team will consist of three equally skilled members. Your job will be lonely and though, and will require a lot of patience. One man or woman alone will not be able to conquer an entire colony if you, by any chance, find yourself facing one. Therefore, teams will study, room, train, and go on missions together.  
After the ceremony, you will each go to your rooms and have time to get to know one another. The purpose of this Academy is to teach you all the theoretical and practical skills you need to know about the enemy you are about to face. Some of you already had the misfortune to face these creatures head-on. Even at an age when you truly shouldn’t have…”

And in that moment, it seemed like the Captain looked directly at Jinyoung, their eyes meeting half-way.

“…We are here to make a change. We are here for a good cause. Always remember that. Remember this when you are afraid, when in doubt. The Academy will teach you everything you need to know and prepare you to the best of its ability. There are things, however, you will learn on the job. We can’t teach you how to resist temptation. Nor can we teach you how to overcome excruciating pain. These will be things you will come across and have to find the knowledge in yourself to conquer. But I know you are tired and eager. Let’s finish this ceremony and raise our glasses to a new cohort of heroes.”

Even though the initial expectation was that the excitement will quiet down as the ceremony goes on, the contrary became evident. By the end of the Captain’s speech, everyone reached a spike, even the lights seemed to shine brighter above them with each passing minute, feeding off of that energy. Jinyoung thought all these lights will blind him. The adrenaline was cursing through his veins and it was a violent kind of excitement, one that hid much darkness under its joyful layers.

Yet for Jinyoung, the only thing that mattered was that he will turn into a hero. For his parents. For the nation. All those years of hard work was about to pay off. He won’t die nameless.

He won’t die as a victim.

The crowd was buzzing with things impossible to see through the naked eye, a huge group of young people ready to give their lives on the spot. Many applicants were people who felt like their lives were worthless, who couldn’t find their purpose. People who felt like a nobody, just specks of dust on the face of the earth. But now, it felt like they were growing up to be somebody, their names remaining engraved in stones of heroic remembrance for years to come even after they die.  


Following the end of the ceremony, they were directed by the senior members to their barracks. The hallway leading to the rooms was long, everything made out of bulletproof steel. Everyone’s footsteps echoed off the walls, making it ring like a march to war.

Jinyoung’s room was located the furthest, at the end of the hallway beside the backdoor. A lot of members hoped they would get his room so they could sneak out to smoke cigarettes, which was prohibited in order to keep each officer as healthy and fit as possible. Jinyoung didn’t mind however, he knew better than to start smoking. The only time he wanted to sneak out for was to gaze at the night sky.

After his parents’ death, he often looked for shooting stars late into the evening. His mother used to tell him that he can make a wish upon a shooting star and it might come true. The things Jinyoung wished for could never come true, like to see his parents again or to be able to go back in time. But perhaps this time, he would become someone’s shooting star, by contributing to a world where children will not have to be afraid of losing their parents at the hands of sirens. This sentiment was further amplified with the dozens of other sailors marching behind and in front of him, the heels of their boots hitting the ground, like a beating heart, all coming together as one large unit. Their bodies were coming together to form a sea of their own, a fair match to the seas of the world, ready to battle. A collective unit, like a leviathan.

By the time he arrived to his room, his first team member was already sitting on the top bunk bed, his feet dangling off the edges. The boy had muscular biceps and shoulders, even though he appeared a little leaner and slightly taller than Jinyoung. Once the boy noticed Jinyoung, his lips curled into a polite smile, his arms pushing himself off of the bed to greet Jinyoung with a handshake, effortlessly landing on his feet. He seemed to be very acrobatic, built of lean muscle mass and broad shoulders.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Mark.” He said, approaching Jinyoung as they shook hands.

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Jinyoung.”

Mark seemed laid-back and reserved, his short brunette hair framing his face. Jinyoung also noticed a long scar over his ring finger. It looked very deep despite the new skin that had formed over it.  
  
Before he could ask about it, the door flung open with the last member arriving.

“Hey guys!” The boy said, dragging a large suitcase behind him. Jinyoung rushed to his help, closing the door behind themselves.

“I’m Mark. You have an entire bed to yourself, you can choose either the top or lower bed.”

The sailor nodded, looking around the room before settling on the lower bunk, bending over so he can fit under it without hitting his head. Jinyoung also introduced himself, settling down onto his own.

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Youngjae. By the way, I heard a lot of people were fighting over this room.” He whispered, almost as if a secret.

“Because of the backdoor, I know.” Jinyoung replied, but Youngjae shook his head.

“Some people were saying this room has an underground tunnel in case of emergency. It supposedly leads to the main station where the ceremony was held.”

“So what?” Jinyoung asked, confused as to why any of that would matter, to which Youngjae shrugged.

“I don’t know. But the main hall has all the food and weapons stored away. I guess it’s good to have access to those.”

The room fell into silence then, before Youngjae sighed, trying to ease up the awkward tensions.

“So this is us.”

“Yeah.” Mark agreed, staring into the distance.

“Unit GOT7. The best unit in the entire cohort.” Youngjae exclaimed enthusiastically with a wide grin.

“We will see about that.” Mark murmured, looking disassociated. The boy’s behavior made Jinyoung curious, so he suggested,

“Let’s sit in a circle and talk. I want to know why you guys are here.”

They proceeded to sit down on the floor between the two bunk beds, Youngjae leaning against one of the bottom beds with Mark facing him on the opposite end. Jinyoung sat against the wall between them with his legs crossed.

“I’ll start.” Youngjae offered, “I’m here because my mother was a teacher at the Academy years ago and she wanted me to serve here. I’m also Korean by birth so I thought I would get the mandatory requirement done sooner. I know there’s one member here who isn’t Korean.”

“Yeah, that would be me,” Mark raised his hand, letting it fall back into his lap lazily, “I was an American citizen but South Korea offers citizenship if you are willing to exchange your other one for it. My parents wanted me to be a Korean citizen so they sent me here to sort of double-down on the whole thing.”

“You don’t look too happy to be here.” Youngjae commented with some concern lingering in his tone.

“I’m here to do my best.” Mark affirmed, keeping the discussion on himself brief.

The room became quiet once more, until Jinyoung cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“I’m here because my parents were killed by sirens. I want to save lives.” He said, voice sensibly filled with pride. Youngjae gasped in awe,

“That is amazing.” Jinyoung sheepishly smiled at that, grateful that he had at least one team member who appreciated the mission. With that said, he quickly glanced toward Mark, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression. It wasn’t anything negative but wasn’t positive, either.

Youngjae, sensing the reappearing tensions, decided it’s best to change topic.

“I snuck in my PlayStation Vitas with a bunch of small games. I have the Tekken and Streetfighter collaboration that just came out, we could play on it.” He added, already reaching for his suitcase.

“Cool!” Mark said, smiling genuinely for the first time since his arrival.

“You’re into games?” Youngjae asked, busy unfolding layers upon layers of clothing from his suitcase, revealing two hidden handheld consoles.

“Wow, sneaky.” Mark noted, chuckling as he got up to sit on Youngjae’s side so they can play next to each other. “Yeah, I am. I love the Tekken series.”

“What about you, Jinyoung? Are you into any video games? I brought quite a few.”

“Isn’t it against the rules?”

“Of course it is. They don’t want us to have fun. But I think I would go crazy without being able to turn my head off sometimes. Come and let’s play. You could watch me beat Mark.”

“Excuse me, perhaps Jinyoung should see me beat _you_.” The other boy remarked smirking, the two already immersed in the game even before it began.

“You guys go ahead and play. I bought some books with myself so I think I’m going to just read and listen to you play.”

Jinyoung explained, with Mark commenting that he sounded like a grandfather, before he took one of Youngjae’s consoles and started to play. Jinyoung ignored his comment, beginning to read _The Catcher in the Rye_ , while taking in the cheerful laughter of his team members as they fought to beat each other in the game. He was glad that he was put in the same team with them, even though their motivations for joining didn’t necessarily align with his. But perhaps they were put in the same team for that reason, their strength coming together to cancel out their weaknesses. A team is always as strong as their weakest member, and Jinyoung was content with having any one of them as the weakest member, although he nevertheless remembered to keep a close eye on Mark.

The place already felt more like home than anything else since the death of his parents. The walls stood sturdy and strong, not crumbling and thin like his apartment. The floors were clean enough to eat off of it and the mattress more comfortable than he expected. It still wasn’t opulent or snug, like the taste of the food at every meal, or the strict curfews and high physical demands. But it was still _home_ and now he had friends he could share a mission with, unlike the people at his college who he had nothing in common with. This time, he was surrounded by people who, although came from different walks of life with different motives, still marched together toward the same destiny. And Jinyoung knew that what brings people together is what keeps them together, and the friends he makes here will follow him through life – or to death.

@@@

As stated in the invitation he received with his acceptance letter, he arrived early at the Captain’s office the next day. The man led them toward the ship, sailing to a colony nearby. The ship had two floors, one protected by soundproof glass, which was the floor him, the Captain, the emergency personnel, and military analysists remained on, while the top floor was filled with navy officers from the diving unit. Coming right after them was a separate ship bringing the rest of ROK who were to attack the colony.

Each sailor held their tranquillizer guns to eye-level, wearing extra armor around their shins and chest in case they fell into the water and had to directly fight. Even though the Captain’s ship was further away from the scene, it was still close enough to allow for detailed observations.

In a couple of minutes, more waves and bubbles started to appear on the surface of the water, which was a sign that the sirens were approaching the ROK ship. As soon as the first siren dug her head out, the officers started to shoot vehemently at the next ones following, detecting some of them underwater with the thermal glasses over their protective eyewear. The air guns, beside the sedatives to immobilize the target, also included a special mix of paralyctics that could cause permanent damage in the vocal cords if shot correctly at the larynx - the spot where both humans and mercreatures have their voice box located.

Jinyoung watched as one of the navy officer’s needle shot right into the neck of a siren while he was trying to help his friend bunk under the water. The merman wailed, his cry loud and thunderous, forcing the surface of the water to separate before him. Any human in close proximity without ear protections would go deaf. Even from afar where Jinyoung and the Captain were watching behind the soundproof window, the glass was rattling from the soundwaves, the pain in his voice making Jinyoung shiver in empathy. He shakily asked,

“B-but sir, may I ask…doesn’t this hurt them?”

The Captain turned towards him, his gaze stern accompanied by a mocking grin.

“Oh, _I see_. You’re getting soft for the enemy?”

“No, not at all, sir.” Jinyoung murmured apprehensively, tightening his grip on the railing that stretched out in front of the window, his eyes glued onto the scene. He saw that while the entire naval force was shooting their tranquilizers at the sirens and the water, a submarine stopped a few feet away, grabbing the transfixed bodies floating on the surface with its clasps, placing them in a temporary mini-aquarium inside the watercraft.

“Not at all…” Jinyoung repeated as he watched another mercreature getting shot. He put his fingertips on the glass to feel the waves of their scream reach the ship, the glass trembling under his pads, and he cleared his throat as if something got stuck in it all of a sudden.

The Captain eyed him carefully.

“These are not humans, Jinyoung. They don’t feel pain the way we do.” He explained nonchalantly, patting Jinyoung firmly on the shoulder. “You can trust me. I’ve worked with them almost all my life. The temporary pain they might feel is little price to be paid for all the lives we are saving.”

Jinyoung smiled at the idea, easing into the man’s grip as they continued to observe until no sirens were left. After that, Jinyoung saw the divers from the upper deck jump off their ship, approaching the colony under the waters to check for anyone hiding.

Immediately following, the Captain’s walkie-talkie made a static noise, a voice coming through,

“We are underwater now. No signs of anyone as of yet. End.”

The Captain held the radio to his mouth, answering,

“Keep looking. There’s always at least one. End.”

The underwater unit kept looking through every inch of the coral reefs, swimming through all the crevice they could fit in, lightening the way with the flashlights secured to their helmets, tranquilizer guns held close, always pointing forward.

A couple of minutes later, one of the divers chuckled,

“You were right, Boss. As always. There was a child hiding under one of the larger rocks. We got him. End.”

Jinyoung wasn’t certain whether the high-pitched noise afterwards was just static noise again or someone screaming – he didn’t want to know.

“Very good. I grant you permission to bring the team up. We are done here for the day. End.”

The Captain triumphantly smiled at Jinyoung, bringing him to his chest.

“And this isn’t even my favorite part yet.”

Jinyoung smiled back but kept his gaze on the floor, lost in thought for a second. As if the man could sense his hesitation, he let Jinyoung go, speaking in a reassuring manner until Jinyoung looked him in the eye on his own,

“Don’t worry about the child. He’s young. Mercreatures growing up in captivity end up being much safer and happier. Tomorrow, I’ll show you around the artificial colonies at the aquatic reservation. Don’t believe me – see for yourself.”

This earned a genuine smile from Jinyoung, his gaze shifting from the decks back onto the Captain’s,

“Thank you, sir!...I’m sorry you have to go through all this trouble for me.”

“You are important to the team. It’s not trouble at all, I’m merely showing you around. This is all part of your career now, it’s only fair you get to take a good look.”

Jinyoung nodded bashfully, grateful that the Captain seemed to have an immense amount of patience despite being his superior. He felt like the Captain understood him and wasn’t trying to explain away violence. His explanations remained straightforward and calm – he was not afraid to confront Jinyoung’s concerns. It helped Jinyoung forget about how he felt from seeing the battle scene, turning that memory into another reason to serve the ROK instead.

And to engrave that sentiment even more so, just a couple of hours later, their first lecture at the Academy took place.  


Jinyoung, Mark, and Youngjae were sitting in the same horizontal row, their chatting adding to the rest of the students’. The excitement still hadn’t rubbed off from the ceremony of the day before, eager eyes glancing at the clock in the middle of the room every minute.

Soon enough, the Captain arrived, his boots soundly knocking on the stainless steel tiles before he stopped in front of the students, folding his arms behind his back.

“Good afternoon. I hope your first night went as well as one can expect and that you are content with your fellow team members.”

Youngjae shot a glance at Mark and Jinyoung right away, hiding his smile behind his hands, the boys smiling back at him.

“Without further ado, let’s begin the lesson. So, gentlemen and women. What do we know about sirens? Besides that their voice is a threat to everyone’s life.”

The Captain was very conscious of his words. From the very beginning, he made sure to establish a certain language surrounding the talks about sirens.

One of the students raised his hand,

“That they are beautiful?”

The Captain chuckled along with the class.

“You will not think of them as beautiful once you learn about them and what they are doing to our seas. But yes, the point you’ve brought up speaks to one of our foremost weaknesses as humans. I can’t teach you how to say no to your wants but I’m here to warn you once and for all – you are now part of the people who guard the safety of our waters and we are surrounded by oceans. If you slip…if you give in to that call, you are also taking the country and its people with you. If you falter just from seeing beauty, I have no idea how you thought applying here was a good idea.”

Jinyoung immediately remembered back to the sailor from the boat trip. BamBam and his merman. The guy looked enchanted while he was talking about the boy, like he was under some kind of spell. It was suspicious from the beginning. The merman must have still lulled him somehow. The Captain was right – BamBam faltered at lust, which cost him his life.

Jinyoung was not about to make the same mistake.  


During the first lecture, the Captain went over the rough anatomy of mercreatures, focusing on their vocal cords and how the tranquilizer guns work, with the promise that he will give the students a chance to practice using them next week. They also watched a very graphic documentary, which showed bodies that were found underwater, claimed to have been killed by sirens. The numbers were astounding – stating that one in every five sailor is a victim of sirens. They showed the dead bodies in detail, and the Captain attentively watched the students’ reactions.

He was pleased to see, that among the greening faces from disgust and horror, Jinyoung’s eyes remained focused, his face reflecting more acceptance than revulsion. He even took notes, which the Captain couldn’t help but hum at, making Jinyoung look up and catch his gaze.

Jinyoung blushed, fluttered at all the attention he had been getting from the Captain. He looked around the room and got a sense why – most people were almost fainting from the sight or looked just sadistically mused. Between the weak and the ill-minded, Jinyoung offered a balanced in-between where his heart and mind were set at the right place for the right reasons. He looked toward his friends to see Youngjae relatively watchful, his strength to will himself at times of need evident. Jinyoung felt relieved, it seemed like Youngjae was able to face his own fears when needed even if it took him time to get there. But Mark, on the other hand, with his eyebrows quirked up looked more skeptical than anything. But as long as he didn’t look like he will throw up or throw a punch, Jinyoung chose not to complain.

The Captain ended the lecture with a note which was hung on the walls of the entrance gates as well,

“Remember, young sailors - _all great things are simple. And many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, and hope_. As you are about to face these monsters in a couple of months, a lot will happen along the way. When you lose a team member or get too exhausted, feeling empty, always remember back to the aforementioned values which brought you here.”

@@@

As promised, a week after the first lecture, teams were given the chance to practice with the tranquilizer guns for the first time. From the day the Captain took him on the colony hunt, Jinyoung already saw what they are capable of but now he was actually able to get a feel for using it.

Nonetheless, he would be lying if he said he was all that excited to shoot. Violence was not something that interested him, and he only hoped he will be able to practice enough to cause as little pain to the sirens as possible. The weapon in his hands felt foreign, but the kind of foreign that will never become more familiar. Even though they were not killing the sirens with the needle bullets, the image and the voice of the siren crying up remained vivid in his head, unforgiving ever since.

The Academy taught them that muting worked by numbing the vocal cords, deteriorating much of the throat muscles and tissues surrounding it, but after a couple of weeks of healing, the mercreatures won’t feel any pain from the bullet. That somewhat eased Jinyoung’s compunction, although he wished he didn’t feel any to begin with.

They were taken to a military owned territory, the waters filled with silhouette targets popping up their heads randomly from the waters, the Bull’s Eye neatly adjusted from their regular position at the hearts to their necks instead. There were three senior officers watching the candidates practice, keeping track of the score each received. The students were ranked based on their speed, precision, and behavior. The faster, more precise, and more merciless a student was, the better score they got.

And although Jinyoung would have never considered himself the best in any of those, he managed to get the highest score in all three.

Youngjae followed by a close second in precision and speed but he kept making faces each time he shot the target hard enough to break the silhouette. It looked like he felt the pain himself, which meant point deductions for signs of empathy. But Jinyoung had an easier time – he had the faces of the sirens before him, the faces of the silhouette made purposefully blank so that the shooter can image anyone’s face in its place. He first imaged the woman, who pulled his father into the water like he was a slop of meat. His face stiffened, his fingers pulling the trigger without faltering. It hit the silhouette right at the neck, close enough to the Bull’s Eye to have Youngjae excitedly cheer for him.

Upon the next target randomly springing up, he thought of the merman who did the same to his mother, the needle getting even closer to the silhouette’s vocal cord this time. He kept shooting faster and faster, yet despite the speed, his accuracy was unaffected, and arguably made them even sharper – each pull of the trigger leading to a needle piercing through the target’s Bull’s Eye inch by inch. At some point, without him noticing, almost all of his peers were watching him, Jinyoung leaving them no target to shoot at.

He felt unstoppable. He knew the silhouettes were programmed to make a noise if the Bull’s Eye was hit right at the center, so he kept going for it until the image of his mother popped into his head, her eyes filled with tears as she looked back at Jinyoung, sober enough to say a last, apologetic goodbye, before dying away – and that’s when Jinyoung screamed from the top of his lungs, most of it eaten away by the cry of the target as it celebrated his bullet piercing through the heart of the Bull’s Eye – the number popping up on the screen - with a 99.98% accuracy.

He felt out of breath as if he was running – running from his past chasing him, as it now caught up, but Jinyoung was not afraid, shooting death right in his neck, muting him forever.

The ship was everything but mute, however, with his peers cheering him on, a victory of one member meaning a victory for all.  The litany was filling the open field,

“One for All, All for One!”

Youngjae laughed, sprinting to hug Jinyoung from the back until he wrapped him in his arms, spinning themselves around. Jinyoung looked at him startled before dropping his gun and hugging Youngjae back, vowing never to forget this moment.

Youngjae, like the shining lights in the auditorium from the orientation day, fed off of Jinyoung’s energy, being the second one right after him to hit the Bull’s Eye. And they just kept moving like lunatics afterwards, the two of them hitting every single target above 90% accuracy each time. Youngjae was most certainly the man Jinyoung would trust his life on at the battlefield.

The same could be said about Mark, who, although never lacked behind in any of the criteria, seemed apathetic in contrast to Youngjae and Jinyoung.  


Time spent together with Mark and Youngjae became better over the next few months, where Mark’s lack of enthusiasm for the lessons and practice hunts was balanced well through his sense of humor and sass, always finding a way to make Youngjae laugh, the room never filled with uncomfortable silence. And when their barrack was silent, it was with everyone doing their own thing, yet knowing they had each other in just an arm’s reach. Youngjae would play games, Mark would listen to music, and Jinyoung would read, or when Jinyoung felt sleepless at night, he would sneak out with Mark through the back door, gazing at the stars together. He would lay his head on Mark’s shoulder, in the chilly summer nights Mark warming him up with his arm around him, letting Jinyoung quietly know that even if he doesn’t share his sentiment about the mission itself, he was still very much a part of their team, and wouldn’t leave Jinyoung behind when the time of need came to save each other.

@@@

“Run faster! Move your damn feet or you’re going to die!”

Jinyoung heard someone from another unit yell at his team member, who shortly after speeding up, stumbled on one of the sharper rock pieces on the land, cutting his foot and falling face-down into the waters. The hazy, greyish water started to turn red from the blood, a smaller pool forming around him like a blanket.

“Fucking hell! Pick him up!” Somebody else yelled from behind, the team members of the sailor trying to run back until the Captain spoke through his megaphone.

“No running back. If your team member fell, you have to keep moving. The blood can attract sharks and if the entire unit stays behind for one member, we are nothing but a feast. Keep moving!”

“B-but this is just a pract-“

“I said – Keep. Moving.”

The sailor swallowed his tears down, looking back at the pool of blood spreading over the surface, his befallen member trying to get up and continue on, but the waves kept pushing him under, the heavy armor around his shins and knee pulling him further down.

Jinyoung looked back at the scene, gulping,

‘ _This could be me.’_

In contrast, the Captain’s words echoed louder in his head,

_“Freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, and hope.”_

Duty and hope, but where was the mercy now? It didn’t matter, as he shook his head and kept marching, his legs and neck cramping from the unrelenting pressure of the waves, the pain growing unbearable. The sound of about a hundred people desperately pushing back against the roaring waters created a tumult, piercing and chaotic in Jinyoung’s ear as he clutched at his ear-piece to help him drown out the noise.

“The sirens are half a mile away. Aim your guns forward.” Announced one of the senior officials leading the practice, the target silhouettes ready to pop-up in any moment.

As the shooting started, more and more sailors fell into the waters under the currents, the targets unexpectedly blowing right into their face too distracting, forcing them off-balance. But once under the currents, especially with dozens of other people running over them, it seemed impossible to get back up.

“This is your time to learn – if under the currents, don’t struggle against it. Move along, and try to paddle your feet to the side of the wave.” The Captain lectured, the sailors under the currents following his direction, finding themselves washed to the dry land on the sides of the narrow practice field.

Somebody broke one of the silhouettes while running, the fractured piece stabbing Jinyoung on the side as he was swimming forward. It dug between his two upper ribs, almost pulling him backwards a foot.

Jinyoung hissed out in pain, the gun shaking in his hand, almost getting away with the currents. There were several splinters standing out of the bleeding wound, the swift moving of the waters pushing them deeper inside the open flesh.

He rolled away from the target, trying to continue swimming forward, but it was hard to keep going when the targets kept springing up one after the other with no ending in sight. It made the battle seem endless - the more Jinyoung shot, the more appeared, leading him to scream out in anger, the sound muffled by the needles hitting and breaking the targets around him.

 

A few practice sessions later, his worst fear came true and he fell under the currents, too ahead of the unit and in the middle, far from the rocks or dry land the currents could wash him up to. There were fishing nets hung to the bottom of the waters, twisting around the sailors’ ankles to imitate a siren pulling them down. The sailor who fell a few sessions ago was saved in-time by the emergency unit, but he was close enough to the shore where they could reach him. But Jinyoung was far away, the targets about to appear in less than two meters.

He felt the net tangle and stick to his shoes and armor, wrapping around his right ankle, the currents pushing him down. He took one last, deep breath, before he was stuck underwater, unable to think clearly from the rapid panic racing through his body. On instinct, he kept dangling his feet, trying to get away from the net, but it only aided in his foot slipping more into it. From all the other people running around him, the water bubbled up, white pockets blurring his vision from seeing anything.

He knew no one will come to save him because it was against the protocol. From the leftover oxygen remaining in his lungs, he imaged what his parents must have felt as they were drowning - whether they were conscious enough to feel any pain at all. Jinyoung squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that they passed away without any pain, unlike he was now.

But just then, as he was about to pass out, Jinyoung felt two arms reach under his armpits from behind, wiggling his body out of the net and bringing him up to the surface. Jinyoung gulped for air, coughing up the water that escaping into his lungs, letting the person lie him down against his chest as they swam on their backs toward the dry land.

Once on the muddy ground, Jinyoung blinked the water and tears away, turning around to see none other than Mark, breathlessly smiling at Jinyoung, flashing him a thumbs-up.

Jinyoung gasped, “But the rules –“

“If I were to wait for the rescue team, you would be dead now.”

Jinyoung felt something blooming in his chest as he stared at Mark, who was taking his goggles off to pour the water out of it. He soon heard someone else swimming ashore, Youngjae clutching at something in his hands.

“It fell out of your pocket.” He said, grinning at Jinyoung, his mother’s necklace hanging between his extended fingers.

Mark chuckled, patting Youngjae on the back.

“You owe us one.” Mark murmured to Jinyoung, Youngjae enthusiastically nodding.

“What’s this tea party over here?” The Captain walked over, glancing at the three men sitting on the shore. “We are in the middle of a practice mission.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Jinyoung replied, looking up at the Captain as he took his own eyewear off. “I was…My feet got entangled in one of the nets and my team came to my rescue. I know it’s against the rules, I’m so sorry, it was all my – “

“Don’t let it happen again.” The Captain said, surprisingly composed, seemingly unbothered as he walked back to his spot higher up on the land, continuing to observe the rest of the unit with his binoculars.

“He let us go because it was you.” Youngjae smiled with a hint of something bitter in his voice, “If it was me or Mark, we would be doing a thousand push-ups as a punishment like the sailors that went back to help the guy who cut his foot.”

“It doesn’t matter. We are brothers for life, or are we not?” Mark asked, placing his hand in the middle. Youngjae pressed his mouth shut, his hand already on top of Mark’s.

“We are.”

They looked at Jinyoung, waiting for him to respond until he nodded in agreement with a faint smile, placing his own above Youngjae’s.

“Brothers for life.”

 

Soon enough, practice missions came when either Mark or Youngjae got injured, and the team never failed to look out for one another. When Youngjae accidentally fell over during one of their practice runs, a sharp piece of wood piercing through his thigh, Jinyoung ran the fastest he had ever ran, picking up Youngjae into his arms. But the Captain was mad at the gesture, speaking through his megaphone,

“You either drop him or you can’t put him down until the mission is over.”

Youngjae looked at Jinyoung, his eyes filled with tears of fear and guilt as he unwrapped his arms from around Jinyoung’s neck, whispering,

“Let me go. It’s okay…You have to keep going.”

Jinyoung pressed his eyes together, holding onto Youngjae tighter.

“I would rather die.”

So he kept moving forward, his own weight, the armor, and the currents tripling the weight he was carrying, but he felt invincible with his friend in his arms, the excruciating pain shaking his bones and the blood flowing out of Youngjae’s wound doing little to stop him.

Mark rushed to the front to catch up to them, taking Youngjae from Jinyoung’s arms,

“My turn.” Was all that he said. Youngjae and Jinyoung looked at each other before Youngjae wrapped his arms around Mark this time, the three of them successfully completing the mission through Jinyoung and Mark sharing Youngjae’s weight.

The rest of the cohort soon caught on their habit, each unit trying to go back and save their team members. The pattern became evident to the Captain, who, notwithstanding disobedience, made everyone do a thousand push-ups to teach them a lesson. It was nearly impossible to complete a thousand, especially after their already demanding physical schedule. The sailors laid powerlessly on the ground after the first few hundreds, spending the entire afternoon in sweat and tears to meet the count, only to fall short and being forced to make up the missed amount the next day.

It led to the subunits just following the rule instead, turning their eyes away when a member made a mistake, trying to focus on the mission. But never Jinyoung’s team – they rather completed the punishment until they were sobbing from the pain, from the shame and furry, but never painful or shameful enough to stop them in their tracks when a member was caught under the currents.

 

Jinyoung’s opinion on Mark changed from that time on.

Despite letting Jinyoung be the mother figure in the group, Mark was often very attentive to the members’ needs. Him and Youngjae would talk about having a dog together, agreeing to call her “Coco”, and when Youngjae felt down for achieving below how he wanted, Mark would always know, drawing him pictures of Coco or bouncing next to him on the bed with the game consoles in his hand. He seemed to have a way of figuring people out, like knowing when Jinyoung’s anxiousness to stay the top student was about to overwhelm him before it actually did, sitting beside Jinyoung until dawn, watching the stars disappear on the night sky.

Mark would also teach them how to do the cup song, stealing plastic cups from the cafeteria so they could stay up way too late for curfew, practicing the moves.

Jinyoung would tease Youngjae with horror stories, Mark gladly playing along to wake Youngjae up in the middle of the night, pretending that they were ghosts. It was all fun and games until one night, Youngjae got scared enough to punch Mark in the nose with full force in the pitch dark.

Jinyoung would end up scolding them until they put their dirty socks in the laundry and did their beds, both Youngjae and Mark pouting and cursing under their breath, but did it anyway so Jinyoung would stop stomping with his feet against the floor.

Some days, the training was especially brutal – running against the currents knee-deep in the waters, shooting at targets popping up into their faces. And it was scary, hunting them in their nightmares, faceless bodies trying to drown them, in addition to their own bodies already sore and cut from the tides, the physical and mental trainings taking their toll. Jinyoung would pull Mark into his bed on the lower bunk, snuggling against him when he couldn’t move an inch anymore, and Mark would hug him from the back, scooting further to the side to let way for Youngjae curling up against Jinyoung. The three of them would cuddle up sometimes, trying to share each other’s pain.

 

Days turned into weeks like that, weeks into months, and moving against the currents became easier, their shooting better, each target jumping up into their faces leaving them with no more nightmares.

Jinyoung felt like he was living the time of his life. He had his left-hand man Mark and his right-hand man Youngjae, the strongest team of the cohort.

The Captain often smiled at Jinyoung with something shining in his eyes, like a promise, like the shooting stars Jinyoung often wished upon when he was young and afraid, thinking he won’t survive without his parents.

It brought tears to Jinyoung’s eyes one night, as he snuck out to stare at the night view alone, wondering if his parents would be proud to see him not only survive - but _thrive_ , after all these years, and on his way to becoming a national hero. He would close his eyes, and let the tears fall, the soft wind wiping it away like the thumb of his mother would, and the singing of the crickets would sound as harmonious as the sound of his father’s laughter when he would lift Jinyoung up onto his shoulders, even when he felt too old to be babied like that. In the absence of love, Jinyoung derived love from that emptiness, and now his world felt full, the memories hurting less with each passing day.

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any better, the Captain invited Jinyoung to have lunch with him and his wife at their home to celebrate Jinyoung’s consistent ranking as the number one sailor in his cohort. He told Jinyoung after one of their practice hunts one day,

“Tomorrow after class, come over to our house, you will see the names and house numbers posted in the hallway. I would like to celebrate it.”

Jinyoung stared at him, wide-eyed and jolting from happiness, nodding fervently.

@@@

The higher ranking officers and seniors of the navy were housed nearby the main station, allowing them to see their families more often. Despite the modest exterior of the building which his Captain was housed in, the inside was all the more spacious. The creamy, peach and ivory walls were decorated by Renaissance-style frames on all of their edges, giving the house an old-fashioned but elevated look. There were chandeliers made out of crystals hanging low in almost every room, including the dining area, with the lamp placed above the long table filled with food neatly stacked on silver plates and covered with their matching silver tops.

If something wasn’t leather, it was silk, and if it wasn’t silk, it was gold, or marble, which were all things the Captain could afford due to his long service at the navy and the connections which he was able to build upon over the years.

Despite his guileful, intimidating, and formidable character, when he greeted Jinyoung in the living room, the Captain had a huge, welcoming smile on his face and a bottle of Champaign in his hand.

“Jinyoung, thank you so much for coming. Have you met my wife yet? Let me introduce you to her.”

He said, calling for her before she appeared in a long brown dress, her hair black and layered as it laid over her shoulders. She gave a friendly hug to Jinyoung, then motioned from them to take a seat at the dinner table.

“So this is the candidate you’ve been talking about all the time.” She mused, smiling at the Captain, who winked at Jinyoung.

“Yes, Jinyoung is an all-star student of the Academy. I remember when I was sorting through the applications and I looked at his transcript, I went and thought, “wow, what is this application doing here? It must have gotten lost, it could only be a transfer application to Oxford or something.” He laughed, his eyes shining with pride as he looked at Jinyoung. Jinyoung smiled back shyly, fumbling nervously with the napkin placed over his lap.

“I-I really am not-“

“No, no, my _son_ , let me brag about you.” The Captain interrupted, and Jinyoung’s breath hitched all of a sudden.

_Son._

He could feel warmth spread throughout his chest unfamiliar for many years, now making its joyful return as it lifted him above the clouds.

The Captain reached over to him, squeezing Jinyoung’s shoulder like he always did when he saw Jinyoung in doubt.

“I hope you know I don’t invite a lot of people into my house. And by “not a lot”, I mean no candidate. You have a very promising future ahead of you in the Academy. Let me tell you, my love, Jinyoung got the highest score in all of our practice shooting games thus far. He’s like a hitman. And he soaks in knowledge like a sponge. He always gets the highest score on the theory exams. Perhaps I found my heir.”

“That is wonderful Jinyoung! And it’s true, I’ve hardly ever seen any of the students he teaches. You seem like a lovely boy, I’m excited to hear about your continued success.” She added, the Captain nodding along.

“I promise t-to work harder in the future, Miss.” Jinyoung mumbled, bowing his head, his cheeks turning into the same red shade as the carpet under their feet.

“Alright. Enough ass-kissing. Let’s eat.” The Captain exclaimed, reaching for his chopsticks as his wife uncovered the food.

“Have some potato puree, Jinyoung.” She motioned for him with the top she was holding, revealing a large bowl of said dish, fresh and hot enough to see its vapor rise toward the light of the chandelier lightning above.

As soon as Jinyoung tasted it, his eyes closed automatically, heart shuttering into a million pieces.

It tasted just like what his mother used to make, like what they ate together on his 11th birthday. Down to the exact seasoning.

The woman caught on his eyelids twitching as he squeezed them shut, trying not to get emotional during such an important occasion.

“What’s wrong, my dear? Did I put too much salt in it?” She asked, concerned as she tried to reach over the table to comfort Jinyoung. The Captain stopped stuffing his face with the food, looking up to murmur something inaudible due to all the puree filling his mouth.

“N-nothing…it’s quite the opposite, actually…This food tastes _wonderful_.”

“Ah, thank you! But…then why do you like you’re about to cry?” She chuckled awkwardly, even more confused than before.

“It tastes just like what my mother always made…like the one on the day she gave me the boat trip as my birthday gift. I’ve eaten potato puree at other places before but it never tasted like hers. No one ever got it right. But this is just… _exactly_ like hers.”

She smiled with a mix of delight and sadness in her eyes, patiently waiting for Jinyoung to collect himself.

The Captain swallowed the food, putting down his chopsticks to ruffle Jinyoung’s hair once he knew he was ready to hear his words, and make it stay,

“The memories will always hurt. As long as you live, you won’t forget the things that brought you here. But also don’t forget that you are at the right place. What you are doing with your life right now is exactly what many other children who lost their parents at the hands of sirens would want, but they didn’t have the skills and talent that you have. Most didn’t survive to begin with. You have everything it takes to prevent something like this to happen to other families. You will be a hero, my son. They are watching you.”

The rest of the diner went easily, with the Captain showing his affectionate side on full display much more than the glimpses Jinyoung had seen during their time at the Academy. It didn’t feel like he was spending time with a senior official, his boss, and his wife.

It felt like he was having a diner with people who had been close to him all his life.

Jinyoung felt like he had a family again.

@@@

However, things started to change progressively within the unit. As they approached the first real mission of their service, the tranquilizer guns failed to shoot, their only protection from the sirens remaining the ear price that blocked their voice. The mercreatures attacked their ship, trying to sink it, the entire unit hardly making it out alive. Considering that the first mission was also three days of sailing away, the danger of a storm approaching or an unexpected mechanic failure furthered the possibility of a shipwreck.

The analysts, upon the inspection of the guns, found that the piece that would release the bullet was broken on the inside, blocking the way for the bullet to leave.

As expected, on the day the ship returned to the base, the announcement came from the Captain right before official lights-out. Youngjae came out of the shower, half-naked, pressing himself against Jinyoung to warm his body up as the Captain’s voice came through the speaker in their room,

“Dear Academy members. It has come to my attention that there’s a member in one of the teams who sabotaged the mission. I believe it’s needless to say how unacceptable that is, so I won’t waste time on that. Because beyond your individual units, we are also one big family, I don’t want us to turn against each other. I don’t want snitching. What I want is that whoever keeps making trouble will realize their mistake, because what you are doing endangers everyone’s life in this navy. If we don’t conquer the colony, the colony will conquer us. If any of you have a meaningful, and I emphasize, a meaningful, well-grounded suspicion that one of your team members is the one causing the issue, it is your duty to let us know. If you just have a personal problem with someone and want them out of your way, then you should be the one leaving. I will keep a very… _very_ close eye on the units. Dispense.”

Everyone looked around nervously, some people biting on their nails until it reached their skin. At that point, people grew so close to their team members, losing one was like losing a brother or sister. Betrayal felt like a knife cutting through all the bonds that sew the units together.

“Well, it’s none of us for sure, so I’m going back to showering.” Youngjae stated, although he got a little dizzy from the news. He felt sorry for the team who had the traitor on their team.

But once Youngjae got back to the bathroom, Jinyoung looked at Mark, who stared back at him wordlessly.

More and more frequently leading up to the mission, Jinyoung woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and find Mark missing. At times, he would see pillows stuffed under the blanket, making it seem like he was laying there, which would explain why he was so fast to arrive to the dorm on the first day, picking the top bunk bed. Initially, Jinyoung thought Mark just sneaked out or, at worst, started smoking.

But he also appeared to be increasingly disassociated during the practice shoots, spending more time observing the gun than using it.

And so Jinyoung, despite the fondness he felt for Mark, promised himself that he would keep an eye on him, and Jinyoung was a man to keep his promises.

As soon as he heard Youngjae start the water in the shower, he fearfully asked,

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

Mark didn’t react, his silence loud in the small, quiet room.

“ _Why?_ You heard the Captain. You are endangering all of us. We could get killed there! And we will, what were you thinking?!” He said, his voice getting louder with each word. He stood up, walking up to Mark to inspect him closer.

“You wouldn’t care. You wouldn’t understand.” Mark whispered, staring at his hands hanging between his legs.

“Then explain to me! You are out of your mind!” Jinyoung exclaimed, too loud for Mark’s liking who in turn got up and put his hand over the boy’s mouth.

“I’ll explain, but you have to keep your voice down. I don’t want anyone else to know. Heck, I don’t even want _you_ to know.” He emphasized this statement by pushing down harder on Jinyoung’s mouth. Jinyoung was furious, ready to punch Mark, but decided to exercise self-control and listen to him first.

“So what do you think, why do they put us in teams?” Mark asked, taking his hand off of Jinyoung’s mouth so he could answer. Jinyoung mumbled right away, his eyebrows still furrowed together as if he was telling the obvious,  
  
“Well, like the Captain said –“  
  
“Fuck what the Captain said. I'm asking you to think. _Think_ about it.”

Jinyoung stayed silent for a couple of seconds, confused and still in utter disbelief, although it should have been obvious sooner with how strange Mark was acting since day one.

“I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me.”

Mark huffed in annoyance, shaking his head but decided to explain to Jinyoung his position as calmly as he could muster, because it was critical that Jinyoung understood,

“Statistically speaking, there is a one in seven chance that each team will lose at least one member over the time of their service. This is on purpose – they want us to be angry. They want us to hate those creatures more and blame the death of our friends on them. They make the team members bond and grow close to each other. We build up a brotherhood, then once we get killed, that death is used against us to make us more violent. Never let this violence blind you, Jinyoung.”

“B-but –“

“The Captain loves you because you are so loyal, Jinyoung. Loyal to his purpose. Your reason for joining this madness is so deeply rooted in who you are that expecting you to change course would be expecting you to change yourself. I don’t even know you enough to tell all the things you must have given up to be here. You are _a promise_. There’s so much potential to you and the Captain knows that shit. Can’t you see him acting like your father or something? Don’t you find that even mildly suspicious?”

“Not at all!” Jinyoung spat back, “He just likes me and I like him. There’s nothing wrong with him acting the way he does. Sure, it’s favoritism right off the bat but…I work _very_ hard. I take my place seriously more than anybody else, and if you don’t turn yourself in…then _I will_.”

“Remember what they say, Jinyoung. “The devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you've ever wished for ...” You are making a deal with the devil and selling your soul to him.”

“Did you just openly refer to the Captain as the devil?”

“Fuck yeah I did.”

Jinyoung’s voice quieted down, his eyes gazing away as he whispered,

“Mark…I will really miss you.”

“So you’re going to turn me in now, huh? Just like that? Won’t even consider what I’m about?”

“There’s nothing to consider.” Jinyoung answered, indifferent, “Something had obviously gone off in your head. You endangered all of us with what’ve done. I’m not afraid to die but I don’t want to die because my own damn team member decided to play games.”

“Alright. Let me explain what “games” I’m playing.” Mark replied, his voice revealing his frustration, “I didn’t join the military for the citizenship. I joined because I’m part of an underground organization that tries to save sirens from going extinct if we collect them at this rate. You’ve been lied to, Jinyoung. The numbers they said in the documentary…what was it…one in four –“

“One in five sailors.” Jinyoung corrected him. Mark raised his eyebrows but continued on,

“O.K., one in five. That is not true. There is absolutely no evidence that sirens killed those sailors. Sirens don’t kill every damn human in their proximity. That is barbaric and cruel, and that’s what they want you to think of them.”

“But what do you mean by “going extinct”? They are just fine at the reservations.”

“Geez, you don’t know a thing! Did you learn everything here?”

“Of course! They can only teach us the truth here, where else would I learn about the very creatures I’m expected to fight against?! If they don’t teach us the truth, we would lose!”

“Well let me break it down for you – they sterilize the adults who remain wild and want to break free. They won’t be able to reproduce anymore. The genetic pool will decrease over time, leading to deformations and eventually infertility. We’ve been on practice shoots already, you know how we hunt them. Don’t you think those needles can seriously injure them? We don’t always hit them right at the vocal cords. If the chemicals are too much in it, if the pressure built up in the gun over time gets wacky and shoots too far, or you shoot too close to them, so many things can go wrong and they had gone wrong before – the seafloor is filled with decaying bodies of sirens, with the very needles pocking out of their bodies that we are filling our guns with. But no one talk about that. Suddenly, if _we_ are acting cruel, it doesn’t matter anymore. Suddenly, because _we_ are doing it “for the safety of our waters and nation”” and Mark was trying to imitate the Captain’s voice, “then it all becomes not only right but _heroic_? Jinyoung, I am desperately, _desperately_ begging you, that you get what’s going on.”

Jinyoung looked at him with his mouth wide open, hoping that the right words will find him, but they never did. He shook his head, looking at Mark as skeptically as he looked at the documentary back during the first Academy lecture.

That was when Mark knew he lost.

“I changed my mind. You shouldn’t turn yourself in, you just need to speak with the unit psychologist.”

“ _Please_. Jinyoung. Hear me out. Allow my words to reach you somehow, not just go from one ear and exit the other.”

“Excuse me?”

Mark felt like he was walking on a minefield while speaking to Jinyoung, filled with hidden bombs underneath that could explode any moment he steps the wrong way.

“I didn’t believe in any of this when I began two years ago. I didn’t even believe in mercreatures. I used to be a competitive swimmer before getting injured. I lost all my passion for the waters. I turned to a boring office job, but after a couple of months of the grind, some of my old college friends from California called to visit me and take photos for their art class. We went sailing, looking for the most beautiful rocky shores and the cleanest water so they could take those ridiculous artsy shots and get a good grade while having fun. Note, that the places where the water is the cleanest is always where the mercreatures live. They take care of their habitat. They don’t destroy life around them like we do. Where there’s beauty in the oceans and seas, I guarantee you, underneath that beauty, you will find sirens. I didn’t know this back then. They brainwash us here to call them monsters. Anyways…while my friends walked deeper into the shores and rocks to take more pictures, I stayed by the boat to guard and I got distracted by baby crabs swimming my way. I went deeper into the water to hold them, because even though I swam almost all my life, it was always in bleached water where no life could survive, so I was excited to actually interact with aquatic wildlife. But as I went deeper, I saw a face peeking out of the water. I’m not the kind of person to get scared easily but…I almost shit my pants, to say the least. I could hardly breathe...

_‘What the hell was that?’ Mark thought after seeing the unfamiliar face, the stranger diving back into the waters. Mark hurriedly turned around and ran away until his feet reached the sand. He looked back and saw the same face, a little closer this time._

_“W-who are you?” Mark babbled breathlessly, feeling out of shape after running against the currents._

_“Will you hurt me?” The stranger asked, voice small and uncertain. Mark wrinkled his forehead and grimaced, disturbed by the proposition._

_“No, I don’t even know who you are…Will_ you _hurt_ me _?”_

_“Can I come closer?” The man asked without answering, his eyes big, expressive, and meek, crystal clear like the water he was in. Mark felt like he could see his own reflection in it, despite their dark chocolaty shade. He had a perky, short nose, and a strong jawline with high cheek-bones. At first, Mark thought he might be a surfer but then he nodded, and saw the man swim closer to him, the shallow waters revealing a long tail covered in white and purple scales instead of legs._

_Mark nearly slipped on the rock he was standing on with one leg, his other sinking deeper into the sand._

_“Please don’t be scared!” The stranger asked, his eyes worriedly looking up at Mark._

_Mark almost choked as he swallowed, suddenly thinking twice about the sandwich he ate an hour ago, believing that it might have gone bad from the summer heat._

_“Are you real?” Mark whispered, stepping away as the man swam closer. Both of them stopped, staring at each other intently, before the merman grinned cheekily, posing with his face resting between his hands._

_“Am I so handsome that you can’t believe I’m real?” He smiled, making his said handsome quality even more apparent to Mark._

_Mark closed his eyes, blinking slowly, wondering if he blinks enough, he will just wake up in a hospital bed, getting informed that he slipped on a rock and fell unconscious._

_But after several attempts of trying, still opening his eyes to the sight of the merman, he murmured,_

_“Partly.”_

_Something opened up in the merman’s eyes then, giggling as his cheeks turned a light rosy red._

_“Maybe you should touch me to check if I’m real.” He winked._

_“I think I’m good over here.” Mark replied hesitantly, even though he was curious to see if the stranger’s tail was real or if it this was all just a prank._

_“I won’t bite…unless you want me to. Now, will you come closer to me? Pretty please?” He pleaded, his voice deep but sing-songy, almost like harps that angels play on, something sacred and heavenly that Mark was not supposed to hear._

_“Are you not afraid I will hurt you?”_

_“You said you wouldn’t and for some reason, I feel like I’m up for taking the risk.” He grinned again, hushing away the baby crabs that gathered around him to leave space for Mark._

_“Did you send those my way?” Mark asked, nodding with his head toward the crabs swimming into the distance._

_“Yes. I thought you would like them…Did you?”_

_“Yeah…they are cute.” Mark smiled faintly, still a little light-headed as he slowly stepped into the waters and sat down on one of the elevated rocks at the edge, gazing into the man’s eyes._

_“I’m Jackson.” The merman introduced himself, waiting for Mark to do the same. Mark did so, following up with the question,_

_“What’s with your legs?”_

_Jackson smiled, lifting the ends of his tail up and spirting some of the water into Mark’s face,_

_“I don’t have legs! It’s my tail. I’m a siren.”_

…My friends came back a couple of minutes later, ready to leave, so Jackson hid under the waters, and I looked back at him on the boat as we were sailing away. He was mouthing something like “come back”.  I tried not to, because I was very much weirded out at first. But I couldn’t help it. Jackson made the waters seem so fun again. So I went back and we chased each other until we finally met one day. I got right into the water and he jumped into my arms, curling his tail around my torso and pulling me under the water. I thought the legends were true, and that I was about to get killed. But he just hugged me and brought me above the surface, apologizing for getting too excited, and I just…I’m starting to ramble, I’m sorry.”

Mark cut himself off, his hand resting above his heart,

“He is the reason I’m here. He was caught by the South Korean government. He’s from the Chinese shores but right around the Yellow Sea, the two meet at some point, and so he learned the language from nearby merchants and humans. He’s very intelligent, like many of his kind. They are not cold blooded murderers. The only thing he could kill with is loving too hard.”

Despite the heartfelt explanation, which did at times make Jinyoung consider Mark’s side of the story, he remembered the Captain’s words from the first lecture and BamBam’s tragedy, and saw Mark little more than another victim in need of help.

“You are not the first person who told me a story like this. But guess what? That person is dead because he was too caught up in his feelings for a merman. You are another one of those cases. This Jackson guy fooled you, Mark. He seduced you so he can get his people out of the aquatic reservations, join up, and attack us all.”

“Geez, Jinyoung, you are really paranoid.”

“I’m not the one living for a conspiracy theory! I won’t turn you in if you promise me you will go to the psychologist. They can help you get out of this, Mark. But please stop sabotaging the missions, you are putting all of us in danger! For what? For the enemy?!”

Mark’s shoulders hunched down, as he fell one floor down from somewhere higher than he should have been. He looked at Jinyoung, disappointment written all across his face, turning away from him as he proceeded to leave the room.

“I thought you were different, Jinyoung. The Captain wrapped you around his finger, and you are blinded by your own rage. If anyone, you should be the one seeking help…I’m sorry we had to meet like this. In any other situation, I know we would stay brothers.”

Jinyoung looked down at the floor, whispering,

“I think the same…I hope they can help you and we can be a team again.”

@@@

The next day, Jinyoung woke up to Mark’s bed all made and empty, and he didn’t see him again afterwards.

The Captain made an announcement revealing the traitor to be Mark, supposedly catching him in-action on camera. Youngjae spent the entire day crying, much to the anger of the Captain.

He wasn’t as patient with Youngjae as he was with Jinyoung,

“Youngjae. Stiffen up! You are a sailor, serving the navy. I expect you to keep the mission in mind at all times. Even when you lose your brother along the way, you are more than an individual – you are part of a unit that must keep itself coherent if everyone wants to survive.”

“B-but where is Mark now?” Youngjae choked out, sniffing and furiously rubbing his eyes to dry the tears away. Jinyoung watched, sitting on his bed, wondering the same thing.

“He’s somewhere traitors belong…not humans. Don’t worry about it. If he learns his lesson, he will be back. If he doesn’t, then you and Jinyoung are strong enough to keep your unit together.”

Jinyoung looked carefully around the room afterwards, suspecting that Mark would be smarter than to get caught like that. Surely, he found multiple bugs hidden in the room, which meant that the Captain heard everything Mark told him about.

A part of him was devastated for losing Mark. He felt like his left arm was cut off, now just the phantom of it keeping his body away from the shock of the sudden loss. At the same time, Mark was wrong, and he needed to take the time to realize that. Jinyoung trusted the Captain that he knew how to help Mark soul-search the truth and overcome Jackson’s games.

Jinyoung needed a break though.

Fueled by his anger toward Mark as well as his newfound confidence in the abilities he gained at the Academy, he felt strong enough both physically and mentally to visit the colony where he lost his parents at. Deducting from the coordinates of the Jeju Islands, the number of days he spent on the boat, and the general flow of the currents at the Yellow Sea, he set out an approximate area where the colony, if still existing, would be around.

The Captain granted him permission to leave, agreeing to give him a week off.

“Jinyoung - I would not grant such permission to anyone else. But you are…different. As long as you remain an all-star student, I’ll allow. Stay for a week, enjoy your time, see something other than the dark clouds harboring the unit recently. There will always be people who will try to stab you in the back. I feel sorry that you had to be among a person like that. Mark was a true disappointment. But here’s something about life. Rule one, my son. Trust no one…Rule number two – and it’s also something I swear by, and so should you, considering what our job entails - there are only two types of people in this world. Those who hunt and those who are hunted. If we don’t hunt the sirens, they will hunt us, and that is as simple as that. These two rules, if you’ll follow, you will be just fine.”  


With a boat he was able to borrow from the navy, he set to sailing the same day using the coordinates he calculated.

He brought along his earpiece, a walkie-talkie to contact the main base in case he finds the colony, and a large wire trap he stole from the main storage facility. In case he would need to protect himself, he didn’t want to steal a gun, so trapping a potential attacker in the net could win him enough time to call for help.

The weather forecast didn’t predict any significant storm approaching – and so Jinyoung knew it was a now or never situation to find the colony on his own.


	3. Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An entire chapter of JJP interaction. Reference pictures to Jaebum’s colors:  
> https://ibb.co/inQtya  
> https://ibb.co/n7Sj4F  
> https://ibb.co/bLTDya  
> https://ibb.co/gjaFBv

The trip took Jinyoung two days of tireless and sleepless sailing. But he wouldn’t have been able to sleep even if he wanted to, too restless at the thought of coming to terms with his past. Despite joining the navy to hunt sirens, something about this moment felt more like the finale he’s been truly craving. This spot was the beginning of his journey through Hell, and now that he was reaching the end of that journey, confronting where it all started deemed to be the most appropriate way to celebrate.

The skies looked as beautiful and sunny as ever for a while. Nothing like the flashbacks flooding his mind, of the gloomy clouds and the sound of seagulls from above. Times have changed. The sea was calm and merciful, leading him far into the horizon until he saw the familiar bubbling of the water underneath. He casted his web out, the sandbags attached to its ends keeping it from floating.

He double checked his ear-piece, putting on the bravest face he could manage as he saw two hands reach out of the waters, palms facing him.

“Don’t shoot!” Said the voice, a fluffy, brown haired boy peeking through the surface.

His skin was like ivory lilies in a field, lips scarlet passion, eyes like dark, fermented grapes making Jinyoung feel lightheaded the more he stared into them. An endless abyss, hair almost as dark and light as the feathers of a crow, equally untamed.

Jinyoung’s eyes widened at the sight, although not understanding why, considering he didn’t expect to see anything in particular. But something about the merman was startling, especially when his tail curled up from the waters behind him, revealing a duo-chromatic tail. In certain angles, it looked like a maroon shade but more black under the water where the light leaked through the least.

The merman probably saw the logo of the ROK somewhere on the boat and assumed Jinyoung had a weapon. Jinyoung had no intentions of making him think otherwise.

“I’m the leader of my colony. I kindly ask you to leave, Sailor. I don’t want trouble. I won’t attack you, but please, don’t come closer.”

Jinyoung furrowed his eyebrows together, confused at the diplomatic approach.

“Is your colony here?”

“No, it’s a little further away, but – “

That was all Jinyoung needed to hear. He flipped the wide fishing net around, tangling the merman into it to pull him closer.

The merman was strong, struggling hard against the web, but with two hundred push-ups and lifting Youngjae out of bed every morning, Jinyoung was prepared to be an equal rival in strength, eventually dragging the merman onto the deck.

Jinyoung pushed the struggling merman’s head against the floor with one elbow while using the other to reach for the rope beside him provided with the vehicle, tying the merman’s arms behind his back.

Once certain that the ropes were tied securely, he wrapped the merman tighter into the fishnet, ensuring that Jinyoung would have enough time to catch him even if he would somehow fall out of the boat and break free.

The merman cried out in fear, staring at Jinyoung towering above him,

“Sailor, please release me! I don’t want –“

“I know, I know, “ _you don’t want trouble_ ”. But who would believe that?”

Panted Jinyoung, not sparing another look at the merman as he got up to check for any other movements in the water. When he was certain there were no more sirens lurking around, he started the boat, on his way toward an island nearby.

“W-where are you taking me?” The siren asked, pressing the back of his head against the deck to look at Jinyoung upside-down, standing at the other end.

“To an island not far from here so that I can call the rest of my crew and inspect the area. With how easily you popped up, I’m surprised they haven’t found your colony sooner.”

“It’s because we are a peaceful colony! We always stay hidden. I promise if you let me go, I will leave you alone.”

Jinyoung snorted at the merman.

“Peaceful, huh? I have a thing or two to say about that, but that doesn’t matter right now…You know, I was wrong all those years ago. _This_ is the best day of my life.”

Jinyoung exclaimed, more to himself than to the merman, imaging the government pulling up to the place, perhaps he could even convince the Captain to let his cohort seize this one, forever sealing his name into the honorary books of the navy.

He could already see…the bold letters of “Jinyoung Park” in the hall of fame of the ROK under his cohort’s year. Youngjae and the Captain shaking his hand in approval. The auditorium and cafeteria loud with chatters about his accomplishment. Confetti falling. His parents giving him a kiss on the cheek, his father ruffling his hair. He could –

“ _Please_ , Sailor, let me go.” Interrupted the merman, forcing Jinyoung to turn around and stare into his eyes. They resembled that of a cat’s, cut in even mono-lids and slightly puffy below.

“You know I won’t. We both know it. Now, save your breath.” He said half-heartedly, the merman’s whining getting to him.

The siren looked away, an overwhelming doom of hopelessness and fear taking him over as he blamed himself for endangering his colony. But he subsided his pleas, not wanting to make the sailor any angrier than he already seemed to be.

The rest of the way went smoothly until Jinyoung’s past decided to play tag with him, the familiar sound of an unexpected thunder and the approaching of darker clouds from the north foreshadowing a storm.

Jinyoung cursed under his breath, trying to speed up the boat, but the island they were approaching was northeast, driving them right into the edge of that storm.

He was not defenseless anymore, his theoretical knowledge of how to navigate stormy currents helping him adapt to the quickly rising waves. Yet as with knowledge in general, it was worth little without enough practicing to engrave it, and at some point, the currents caught up to them, rocking the boat around.

Just as he saw dry land far into the distance, the merman used the turning of the waves to his advantage, flipping the boat over by rolling his weight from side to side, tumbling into the waters.

Jinyoung groaned, hoping he wouldn’t have to swim after him, but he caught the edge of the web in time before the merman could roll out, dragging him along in the waters while they got closer to the island ahead.

The merman remained relentless though, his tail repeatedly flapping against the boat to ease Jinyoung’s grasp. Albeit that didn’t work, his tail hit the old, wooden planks with more force than it could handle, eventually leading to a fracture that the water began to sweep through.

“Are you kidding me?!” Jinyoung yelled, mad at the navy for not letting him borrow a newer boat and at the siren for resisting. Jinyoung knew his anger was irrational concerning the merman, because resistance could be expected, but after all these years of waiting to fulfill his promise of vengeance, his vision was blurred by red.

“Let me go!” The merman commanded, just as angry as Jinyoung, continuing to blow his tail against the ship using all his might, until the ends cracked completely, gradually sinking the boat. Fortunately, the island was in close proximity, and Jinyoung slowly but surely dragged the merman along as he swam toward it, the ropes tying the siren’s wrists together strong enough to prevent him from getting out of the net entirely.

Even as multiple practice sessions at the Academy had Jinyoung lift up his team members under the waters, his friends didn’t struggle and it never occurred in the training manuals how to drag a siren ashore so early on in their careers.

Jinyoung figured it out along the way, gracelessly rolling the merman onto the dry patch of land, sand sticking all over the siren’s face and hair.

As soon as both of them were fully on the island, Jinyoung reached into his pocket for his walkie-talkie to alert the main base. To Jinyoung’s misfortune, it refused to turn on due to the gaps in the device filled with liquid and salt, so he threw it aside to let it dry, leaning against a large rock for support.

While catching his breath, inhaling long and deep, the merman didn’t rest, continuing to struggle against his bonds. It annoyed Jinyoung how persistent he was, with Jinyoung wanting nothing more than to get over with the entire hunt. The rewarding part would be finally reaching the Captain and going back to his base like a hero, the colony long captured.

Instead, he was stranded on an island with a storm approaching, his walkie-talkie useless for a couple of hours, accompanied by a merman who kept whining and grunting.

“Sailor! Let me out! Sailor…please.”

The siren spoke, trying to spit out the sand that got into his mouth, struggling to open his eyes from more of it sticking to his wet face.

Jinyoung rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore the merman until he exhausted himself to silence.

After what seemed like an hour, the merman finally quieted down, the only sound remaining the seagulls circling above them, the water washing over the rocks ashore, the thunder afar, and the merman’s rapid breaths.

Jinyoung got up to check on his walkie-talkie again, hitting it with the ends of his palm multiple times to shake the water out of it, but there always seemed to be more coming out the more he hit it. He gave up after a while, placing it back.

He looked around, trying to find possible shelter in case the storm would reach them. Just when he was about to walk deeper into the island, the merman spoke up, his voice low and small,

“What will they do to me?...To my people?”

Jinyoung slumped back to him, deciding to make sure the rope around his wrists didn’t ease up from the water. He flipped the merman around, pressing his face into the sand, eliciting a groan. The sailor smiled to himself, considering whether to press the merman’s face into the sand each time he would try to annoy him.

He decided to stay considerate and drop the idea, unwrapping the siren from the net and using it to tie him near a wooden pole stuck deep into the land. Jinyoung checked if the pole was secure enough, his arms pushing against it to see if it would budge. In the meantime, the merman looked at his muscular arms in awe and Jinyoung frowned at the subtly astonished expression, making him feel uncomfortably fluttered. He tore his gaze away from the merman, proceeding to tie his hands behind the pole with the remaining net in case the rope would disintegrate over time.

Once he was sure the merman wouldn’t be able to escape, he sat down next to him with his legs crossed, resting his face in his palm as he answered lazily,

“Nothing. You will live like you would, except not in the seas. The friendlier ones get placed in public aquariums for the kids to learn about you. I’ve been to many of those with my boss. Your kind is nice, locked away. Kids love you, they don’t know what you are capable of. I recommend you behave well when the government arrives so you will get placed there. I once saw a mermaid hold her hand out for a crying baby so the mother took the child’s hand and placed it against the glass. When the baby noticed the mermaid, he started to giggle with her.”

“We are not evil creatures, you see! Please, give us a chance! Just…try to keep other humans away. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“You can’t keep humans away from the places they want to go to. We conquered the sea.”

“It doesn’t belong to you!”

“Not _yet_. But that’s what the government is trying to do. Less danger in the waters, more space for expansion.”

“Why are humans so territorial?”

“Look who’s talking. Mr. “Just don’t come near _my colony_ ”.”

“We are not territorial, it’s just all we have left undisturbed. We live in peace with other aquatic animals and plants. We share the sea.”

“That’s not my problem.”

The merman scoffed, glaring at Jinyoung,

“How can you be so heartless?”

“Hm…let me see,” Jinyoung pretended to think, cupping his chin as in deep in thought, “I almost drowned and starved to death as a child, right after I lost my parents. I had to escape from my orphanage because they kept giving me to families who couldn’t even take care of themselves. Your peaceful and oh-so-loving kind left no reasons for me to show any consideration. My life was nearly ruined.”

“I-I don’t understand this. O-orhp – what? What is that institution?”

“You infer that I’m heartless but you don’t know what led me here…enough talking! Despite being a siren, your voice particularly irks me.”

The merman looked hurt, glancing down at his tail as he slowly wiggled it in the sand.

“How did you lose your parents?”

“Do you really want to know?” Jinyoung asked, arching his eyebrow in question. The merman nodded.

“Help me understand why you are so hateful to us.”

Jinyoung measured the merman up before sighing,

“Not like any of this should matter to you…but we have some time to kill until my walkie-talkie dries... This isn’t the first time I’m telling my story but I don’t even know where to begin?” Jinyoung thought out loud, staring at the merman’s tail.

“Humans like to talk about themselves. I’m sure you will find a way.” The siren noted, making Jinyoung frown once again.

“Think what you will, but just remember, you are not in a leadership position now, and I’m nearing the end of my patience. It can only get worse from here.”

“You have absolutely no respect for me…I’m the leader of my colony and I’m trying to make amends with you! But you are so stubborn and inconsiderate…”

“Respect for what? For a monster? On what grounds?” Jinyoung laughed sarcastically, raising his eyebrows. “I should just tie your mouth shut as well. I didn’t want to, but like I said, I’m running out of patience and you are not helping your case.”

The merman gulped, lowering his head in shame. He had to swallow his pride, trying to get on the better side of the sailor if he was to save his colony somehow.

“I apologize…I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I will try to be more understanding.”

“Oh, how could I thank you for your graciousness? _Your majesty_ , being more understanding? This must be my lucky day. The leader himself. I’m honored.”

The siren squeezed his eyes shut, inhaling deeply as he counted in his head to calm down. In the sailor’s eyes, he knew he was a beast, just an obstacle to overcome, the target of easy mockery.

“Please, forgive me Sailor.” He muttered, his fingers curling into a tight fist from the humiliating lie. “I still wish to know why you hate sirens so much. Help me understand you.”

Jinyoung gasped in surprise at the apology, but nevertheless eased up, the merman’s efforts encouraging him to continue.

“Then I’ll start from the beginning, if you so wish to know, _Leader_. I have no idea if sirens keep birthdays, but humans celebrate the day they were born each year. That’s how we know what age we are. So on one of my birthdays, my parents saved up for a birthday gift. They worked very hard all their lives. We never went on any vacation but they were finally able to save up for a boat trip as my surprise gift. At the time, it felt like the best day of my life. The sea was beautiful…but we got caught up in a storm, worse than the one you and I’ve just been through, and it shifted us into a non-designated area. The boat, already small to begin with, was almost entirely filled with water from the violent waves and rain. The guide of the boat fell out and drowned. We somehow managed to survive the storm, but I woke up to my parents holding hands with sirens. That was the first time I ever saw your kind. They were singing a song, but I was too young and innocent for their voice to affect me. There was nothing they could offer me my parents were not enough for. But that wasn’t the same for my parents. They whispered to them something alluring, something along the lines of “Come with me, I will give you everything you want”. For people who hardly ever had anything, there was a lot the sirens could offer. “

Jinyoung paused, staring at the waters, almost as if he was seeing it replay before his eyes.

“They struggled. I remember my mother looking back at me, sober for a glimpse of a moment, with tears in her eyes. She was awake enough to know but not to resist. She didn’t want to die. They jumped into the water with the sirens and I was left on my own. I was eleven years old, in the middle of the sea, and had no idea how to navigate the waters. The only reason I’m still alive is because the waters brought me to the Jeju Island, and the merchants there saved me. Many of them also lost friends through your kind. But the point of this story, which is the reason I went to your colony today, is that the sirens who killed my parents are from _your_ colony. Your _peaceful_ colony. The very creatures you so proudly represent.”

“We do it to protect ourselves!” The merman said defensively, “Any human that thus far came to our territory came to kill or use us. We don’t have the luxury to differentiate between who will attempt to kill us and who are the ones just lost. Even lost people often take advantage once they suspect we are nearby or try to help. If your kind didn’t hurt us, we wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I disagree. Countless sailors died at the hands of sirens, because the sirens were promiscuous and lulled the humans to their death…when all the human wanted was to love them.”

“Only in mythologies. Besides, your kind is incapable of selfless love.”

“You don’t know a thing about humans! You’ve only seen the worst.”

“Well, your kind also knows nothing about mine. All you have is the rage left from your parents’ death. You’re hunting us down. You became a worse monster than what you decided to fight against. We attack to survive. You hurt us for revenge.”

“I’m not hurting you. Like I said before, they just collect you.”

The merman seemed angry, refusing to look into Jinyoung’s eyes before Jinyoung spoke again,

“How many mercreatures live in your colony?”  
  
“Just a few.” The merman replied curtly, but his tail started to wiggle faster in the sand, showing his nervousness.  
  
“Just a lot, then. I know you are lying to "save them" but you shouldn't worry about where you are going.”

“Your government already captured many of our kind…Please don’t take more. So many families were separated. Children were left parentless. Of all people, you should know the best what that’s like. Yet none of us sworn vengeance on humans.”  
  
“It’s not the same. Kids grow up happy there. I saw it with my own eyes. I was left without anything.”  
  
“Do you call that "happy"? They just don't know better. Look at the ones who know what it was like to be free. I bet they only showed you the children and the ones they broke in. But that's not the majority.”

Jinyoung huffed, showing his disagreement. The merman desperately pleaded,

 “Don’t you have _any_ mercy in your heart?”

“Not for your kind.”

“Humans can be so evil. But you…you may _truly_ be. Even after you know why your parents died, you have no forgiveness in you.”

“Sirens are dangerous to all sailors and humans, it goes beyond the scope of my parents. And as soon as my walkie-talkie dries, I’m going to speak with the main base and get your colony as well. Then, this madness will finally be over.” Jinyoung sighed exasperatedly, closing his eyes in an effort to relax.

The merman had other plans, leaning forward to be closer to Jinyoung, tucking his tail to the side. He regretted not speaking with Jinyoung softer, as he had to be more careful not to anger the sailor, the life of his colony lying bare in his hands.

“Please don’t…Just take me instead. Not my colony…Please, don’t harm them!”

The merman said, tears gathering in his eyes. Jinyoung opened his own to the sound of sniffing, his heart aching for a second,

“I didn’t know mermen can cry.” He said between shallow breaths.

“I feel pain, too, you know…” The merman spat, looking away from Jinyoung.

“Yeah, except when you drown humans.”

“I never drowned humans! Once again, this is a peaceful colony. I never used my voice to hurt anyone…”

“If I would keep you here, I would have to make exceptions for the others, too. But like you said earlier – _I just don’t have the luxury_ to differentiate between who will attempt to kill me and who won’t.”

He watched the merman break down into quiet sobs, biting on his lower lip to keep them from rising up. But he failed miserably, his deep, silvery voice turning harsh and raw from the sobs shaking his body.

Jinyoung felt a kind of sorrow overtake him, mysterious and sudden like the gloomy clouds that keep leading him to his death.

For a moment, Jinyoung was able to see beyond the monster that he viewed the merman as, revealing human sensitivity. He moved closer to the siren, who, scared that the sailor was trying to hurt him, looked into his eyes with fear darkening them, and through that depth and terror, Jinyoung saw the reflection of the only monster in the room.

“Please…don’t hurt me.” The merman whispered, expecting Jinyoung to do something horrible to silence him, but he was surprised to feel gentle fingers eagerly wipe away the sand that had been sticking to his face from resisting earlier.

He tried not to, but his eyes closed on a reflex, the warm fingers of the sailor gently brushing all the sticky and piercing sand pieces away. Jinyoung brushed over the siren’s mouth, the hard pads of his thumb gradually uncovering the merman’s velvety lips. The siren shivered at the gesture, lips parting wider to gasp for air he felt out of from the sailor’s touch.

When the brushing stopped but the man’s hands remained on his face, resting on his cheeks, he slowly opened his eyes, searching for an answer.

Jinyoung awkwardly cleared his throat, a lump forming in it along the way he didn’t notice until then. With this close to the merman, not seeing his tail, he looked just like any other human, and it concerned Jinyoung, making him feel even more conflicted about what he was doing.

In addition, now that the merman’s hair dried, curling away from his face, his features eased into a cheeky, boyish look. Yet betraying that cheeky look, under the observing gaze and closeness of the sailor, the merman blushed to his embarrassment, instinctively trying to cover it with his arms. But as they were tied, he could only turn his head down, breaking the eye contact in hopes that the sailor would leave him alone then.

“Do you have a name?” Jinyoung asked, almost inaudible in comparison to the rapid beating of his heart, admiring the rosy tint of the merman’s cheeks peeking through his splayed fingers.

“Of course I do…but what does it matter to you?” The merman replied bitterly, to which Jinyoung frowned like he just got slapped in the face, the tone of the siren’s voice harsher than the freezing wind of the sea blowing against his damp clothing.

He stepped away with a distaste lingering in his mouth, sitting back to where he was before.

“Fine, then don’t tell me.”

The merman raised his head to look at him, apologetic, the ends of his tail flopping against the sand.

“Jaebum.”

Jinyoung looked back at him, not hearing his words.

“What was that?”

“My name…it’s Jaebum.” The merman repeated, hating to raise his voice.

Jinyoung’s face smoothened out, forgetting about the siren’s previously insulting tone.

“Alright, Jaebum. I’m Jinyoung. We will be here for a while so we need to collect some water to drink for later.”

“Only you.”

“Ah…yes. I _almost_ forgot you are not human.” Jinyoung smiled to himself, the momentary kindness he felt for Jaebum vaporizing at the memory of the lessons they taught him at the Academy, the merman appearing as a monster once again, and the truth on the horizon clear. _Almost human_ – but not.

“You said it like it’s a bad thing.” Jaebum remarked, leaning his head against the pole, trying to get comfortable despite the painful sitting position he was in.

Jinyoung just shrugged his shoulder, getting up to pluck out some medium-sized, curved leaves hanging on the trees in the island, sufficient for the purposes of collecting any rain that would fall.

Looking around the island a little deeper, he also found several tropical and citrus fruit trees, although no place to use for sleep or signs of other life. This meant that he had to build his own shelter and hunt for fishes to complement the oranges he brought back.

He collected a couple of fallen tree trunks and larger branches that he could lean against one another, tying it with the fiber extracted from more sturdy plants, building what looked like a tent.

Jaebum watched curiously, never before seeing what humans live in. Considering how greedy and senseless humans appeared, he couldn’t image how big the house of just one person must be. Property was not a concept among mercreatures, the entire sea belonging to everyone to cultivate and equally use like a common land unlike how humans inhabited their homes.

Once Jinyoung was satisfied with the shelter’s outline, he ventured on, collecting larger leaves to cover the gaps between the branches, making it as waterproof as possible.

He secured everything by digging a firm base in the sand, hopefully withstanding stronger winds until the rain would stop. Despite the trees of the island providing better protection against the weather, he decided to place the shelter closer to the sea, with potentially less bugs crawling on him in the middle of the night.

However, the storm passed by without reaching them, the rainy clouds leaving the island behind, allowing Jinyoung to tuck himself under the shelter and take a nap. He was exhausted after not having slept for two days all on top of chasing the merman.

But he was still in a vehement conflict with the voices in his head, mashed together into an incoherent mess. He heard the voice of the Captain from all those lectures on one end, clashing against Mark’s and BamBam’s words, now stirred up by Jaebum’s.

It was difficult to find out what the truth was, because all this time, he’s been holding onto his own truth, the only one he thought he needed to know. It was enough to witness his parents die, everything else beyond that was just speculation.

Yet upon glancing at Jaebum, the enemy responsible for his parents’ death, in all his beastly form - with his head lowered and the ends of his tail drawing small circles in the sand, he looked so human and broken, Jinyoung wondered where the monsters were hiding.

Because they had to be there, somewhere, only hiding, beneath Jaebum’s mild manners and breathtaking exterior.

Truth used to be simple – mercreatures were heartless monsters who seduced and killed multiple people in his life. It made sense.

On the contrary, as Jaebum proposed, sirens could also just be protecting themselves, explaining why colonies can go unnoticed for years, effectively living in peace with other creatures around them.

Most importantly, Jaebum didn’t attack him, supposedly never even using his siren voice to drown anyone.

The truth didn’t seem faceless – he made the mistake to chain his truth to the people who had spoken it, but now with more faces and more truths, Jinyoung felt like changing his mind would be betrayal to one over the other.

With these doubts in his mind, he almost drifted off to sleep, before he heard Jaebum grumble,

“Will you just go to sleep now? And leave me like this?”

Jinyoung cracked his eyes open, remaining in the tent.

“Yeah? What did you think? That I would let you get away? I’m not an idiot.”

“But my wrists hurt…and my tail is getting too dry. I can’t stay above water all night. I would get sick!”

“Nice talk, but you won’t fool me.” Jinyoung murmured, turning onto his other side.

“I’m not fooling you!” Jaebum screamed in frustration while looking at the sea, so close to being home yet so far. The thought of going further away soon made him wish the sand under him would swallow him whole.

But after the sailor refused to reply or even flinch, Jaebum sighed, trying to compromise,

“At least tie me near the water!”

Jinyoung only hummed in response, knowing he wouldn’t sleep all night so he could continue to keep his eye on the merman. Therefore, he didn’t think moving him closer was necessary. The merman thought otherwise.

“ _Jinyoung_ …please. I don’t want to…I don’t want to die like this.”  


The sailor found himself regretting that they shared their names with each other, the sound of his name dreadfully melodious coming out of Jaebum’s mouth. Especially with that utter misery in his voice, it forced Jinyoung’s eyes open, filling his - apparently heartless - chest with the sensation of burning coal.

He wasn’t so sure how to feel about sirens anymore but he knew he never intended to _kill_ them. The idea of locking them away from their homes seemed better, cozily wrapping Jinyoung in the lie that the mercreatures still got more than what they deserved. It was easier to see everything as justice rather than personal fulfillment. He wasn’t risking his life for his own sake, but it was in the purpose of a larger justice – but justice could not be served with an eye-for-an-eye strategy. So he crawled out of the shelter, taking a tall and thick tree branch left over from his tent, piercing it repeatedly into the ground until it stayed there, hoping that it will be just as lasting as the pole Jaebum was currently secured to.

He untied Jaebum’s wrists, unveiling the rope marks bruising the merman’s skin. Jinyoung looked away from the sight while scooping him into his arms, carrying him to the other pole. The blood looked so humanoid, the thought of what he had done making Jinyoung nauseous for the first time. He hastily tied Jaebum’s arms again but more gently this time as to avoid cutting into the bleeding spots deeper.

The merman hissed up in pain, biting on his lips to quiet himself, and it helped that he was closer to the water now, the waves that reached the sand washing over almost his entire tail. He let out a shaky breath, his parched and sandy scales finally nourished by the cold sea water, and Jinyoung could see goosebumps appear on the merman’s skin from the pleasant sensation.

Because the storm didn’t reach them, Jinyoung decided to take his flannel shirt off to let it dry, knowing it won’t get wet again from the rain. He rolled his jeans up, sitting on top of a protruding rock beside the merman.

Jaebum turned his head toward Jinyoung, taking in the muscles on the sides of his stomach and biceps, letting his eyes wonder to the man’s legs, astonished to see all that muscle on the sailor’s thighs peeking through the rolled-up jeans.

Jinyoung caught Jaebum staring at him, to which Jaebum huffed and looked away, feeling abashed. He had never been this close to a human before, usually warning tourists and lost sailors from afar to get them to leave. The previous leader of the colony was more forceful, ordering sirens to attack any ship approaching before those would attack them. But Jaebum had enough of seeing the seafloor filled with bodies of decaying humans throughout the years, and hoped that through kindness, humans would willingly leave them alone, allowing mercreatures and humans to coexist in harmony.

But Jinyoung didn’t seem to be moved by any of that. He was very purpose and goal oriented, not budging from his position, although the merman could feel the ropes and net dig into his skin much less, which meant that the sailor remained considerate to the wounds covering them. He also let some of the rope stretch so that the merman could lie down if he wanted to sleep on his back. Even though Jinyoung shouldn’t have taken him from the waters to begin with, Jaebum was still appreciative at the sympathetic gestures.

“Didn’t you want to go to sleep?” The merman spoke after a while, observing Jinyoung as he stared at the sunset.

“So you could escape, right?” Jinyoung snared without looking at Jaebum, too caught up in watching the colors of the setting sun, all the purples, pinks, and oranges, dancing together on the sparkling surface of the water.

“No…I was just wondering.”

But then the sailor did look at him, and saw the sunset reflect on Jaebum’s tail even more so, the sight mesmerizing to a man who lived all his life stuck in a world of black and white. Jaebum’s skin looked like the petals of a dandelion coated in gold, precious and glowing, his auburn hair like a shade of sepia that reminded Jinyoung of the colors of his parents’ old photographs from when they were children.  
  
With a wave of the sea washing over Jinyoung’s feet, the same wave brought a feeling of nostalgia with it, memories flooding his mind of many days eating apricot peaches at school, now the image of the apricot in his hand slowly fading into the peachy blush on Jaebum’s cheeks.

Looking at Jaebum was like looking into the past before the bitterness, memories of gentler times, of the days before he turned hungry for vengeance. But as the sun brewed away, rolling on its blinds, in the darkness of the night, the sound of the water also brought back those four days he spent lost and alone on the waters in the middle of nowhere before reaching the Jeju Islands. He dug into the pockets of his jeans, taking his mother’s necklace out, holding it toward the night sky.

The dark navy blue shade of the stone reminded him of his service at the ROK and of the other nights he and Mark spent snuck out, staring at these very same stars above, now gradually revealing themselves from miles away. The same things around him reminded Jinyoung simultaneously of two opposing views, tearing him apart at his seams. Jaebum observed Jinyoung’s expression change with the memories, like each chapter of a book telling the story of something different that was going on in Jinyoung’s head.

He carefully swept his tail toward the sailor, trying to comfort him so he wouldn’t feel alone. Jinyoung watched the ends of the tail pat his legs, Jaebum’s lips curling into a faint smile, concealing his apprehension.

“Is everything okay?”

“I’ll get by.” Jinyoung answered, barely above a whisper. “I’m going to sleep. Are you able to lie down and sleep as well?”

Jaebum fluttered at the man asking, not expecting Jinyoung to make sure he could get any sleep. He nodded, watching the sailor go back to his shelter, his body facing the merman.

 

Jinyoung woke up grumpy, his back hurting. The leaves he laid down still let some of the sand sneak through, his face and hair covered in them by the morning. He stumbled out of the shelter, seeing Jaebum sit in the positon he was the night before, staring at Jinyoung.

“What is it?” Jinyoung asked, wondering why Jaebum was staring at him so intently.

“You look different when you’re asleep.”

“How so?”

“You look peaceful and kind.”

“I _am_ peaceful and kind.” Jinyoung remarked jokingly, moving onto checking his walkie-talkie. Jaebum watched him knit his eyebrows in frustration as he kept pushing the buttons, talking to the speaker.

“Hello? Does anyone hear a thing over there? Hello?...At least the monitor has some color to it now but it still doesn’t work.”

Jinyoung sighed, starting to feel emotionally exhausted. He really anticipated that things would go smoother.

He walked up to Jaebum, untying his arms.

“A-are you letting me go?” Jaebum asked, his voice shaky with hope. Jinyoung chuckled,

“Of course not. I just want to make sure I don’t cut off your circulation.” He replied, his fingers smoothing over the merman’s wrists, helping him move his arms around.

Jaebum let Jinyoung move his arms above his head, then bring them forward, the two of them making large circles in the air until the numbness went away. The exercise made his arms feel better, the muscles warming up and relaxing after staying in almost the same position for hours.

He wanted to look at the sailor, hoping that if he looked at him long enough, he will figure him out, but being this close to him made Jaebum feel too insecure, the man’s chest and breast muscles flexing with each circle leaving too little to his imagination.

He then felt himself being lifted up again, Jinyoung carrying him away from the waters.

“Where are you taking me?” Jaebum asked, panicking, his arms wrapping around Jinyoung’s neck to hold onto him for dear life. Jinyoung, without thinking much about it, held the merman closer to his chest in a comforting manner, explaining,

“I’m bringing you a little further away from the waters so that I can let your arms stay untied. I know your wrists hurt.”

He gently placed Jaebum down onto his stomach next to the tent, letting the siren’s arms stay unbound. Jaebum eased into the sand, sunbathing in the early morning’s light, pale blue and pastel pink shades of the morning sky reminding him of the coral reefs of his colony.

Jinyoung watched a small smile appear on Jaebum’s face at the thought of his friends and family, making Jinyoung glance back at the footsteps his feet left behind, slowly washed away by the waters rising to the land. He could tell Jaebum was thinking about his home, his cattish grin and honest eyes shining with warmth.

The serene mood was soon disrupted by the panging growl of Jinyoung’s stomach. He sloppily devoured an orange to calm it down before sharpening a tree branch and catching some fishes for both himself and Jaebum to eat.

He collected a handful of them in a larger leaf, and used some leftover fiber and a stick to start a fire upon long minutes of trying. He transferred the fire near their shelter, dropping it into a hole he dug to keep it from spreading, bordering the flames with rocks to make sure it will be safe to fall asleep around in case it would last until nighttime.

He pierced the fishes onto an extra branch, spinning it above the fire and waiting for them to cook.

“What are you doing to the fish?!” Jaebum asked, shocked at the scene before him. Jinyoung looked back at him equally confused.

“I’m cooking it, what else would I be doing?”

He then remembered merpeople didn’t eat cooked food so Jaebum was probably horrified.

“ _Cooking_ it? Why would you? It's great as is!” Jaebum said, idly pointing toward the raw fishes piled up on the leaf.

“Just wait. You'll see it's better when it's a little crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Give it a try like this. If you don’t like it, I will give you the uncooked ones.”

Jaebum quirked his eyebrows and grimaced but tried the cooked fish anyway once it was done.

As soon as Jinyoung handed him the first fish, Jinyoung erupted into a loud laughter at Jaebum’s expression, his lips forming an “o” shape as he stuffed more and more of the fish into his mouth.

“It’s better, isn’t it?” Jinyoung asked smugly, seeing the ends of the fish’s tail dart out from the corners of Jaebum’s mouth before he swallowed it.

Jaebum nodded, his hands reaching for more.

“I wish my people had fire down there. I had no idea heat can make meat taste better.” The merman muttered before stuffing his mouth with another fish.

Jinyoung watched his face go chubby from all the food that filled the pouches of his cheeks up, reminding Jinyoung of a squirrel. The sailor found himself thinking that if Jaebum were always like this, children at the public aquariums would really grow to love him. The thought warmed Jinyoung’s heart, imagining the merman place his lips on the glass, making kissy faces at the babies to get them to giggle. The sound of that giggle continued to ring in his ears, his attention fixed onto Jaebum’s pleased eye-smile and messy chin.  


Once they finished eating, while Jinyoung was throwing the fish bones into the fire, he heard Jaebum call for him,

“Jinyoung…?”

The sailor turned toward him, his eyebrows raised as to signal for Jaebum to continue.

“These fishes were really nice, but…there’s a specific fish type I love a lot, could you try to catch some of that next time? I’m curious what they taste cooked.”

Jinyoung smiled softly, pressure building up in his ribcages at Jaebum shyly looking away, his fingers nervously doodling starfishes onto the sand behind him as he waited for the sailor’s reply.

“I’ll see what I can do, if you tell me what they look like.”

A couple of hours later when they felt hungry again, Jinyoung successfully came back with a few of the red flatfishes Jaebum asked for. The merman’s face lighted up at the sight like Jinyoung just brought him the greatest treasure of all time. He excitedly pressed his palms together, impatiently waiting for the fish to cook.

In the meantime, Jinyoung showed Jaebum some of the games he liked to play with his friends as a child, such as Noughts and Crosses. He drew a table onto the sand, dividing it into equally sized squares, assigning Jaebum his shape. But Jinyoung was sly and he knew that the game can be easily won without much thinking if you have the first move and place your shape right in the center of the field. Jaebum, never before knowing the game or any strategies to win, kept losing, flapping his tail in the sand, groaning in frustration much to Jinyoung’s pleasure.

Jaebum glanced at Jinyoung’s mischievous smile, and there was that staring again from the morning.

“What?” Jinyoung asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Your teeth look like the pearls I used to pick out of shells when I was a child.”

“Is that a threat?” Jinyoung teased, “You want to knock my teeth out to collect it?”

“No! I meant to say that your teeth are pretty…” Jaebum frowned, “If they know you won’t hurt them, they will open up to reveal the pearl inside. They let children take it.”

“Are only my teeth pretty?” The sailor cooed, continuing to drag Jaebum’s patience, seeing his shoulders stiffen as if he wanted to smack Jinyoung.

But after a couple of seconds of silence with Jinyoung just grinning to himself, Jaebum asked,

“I-is there…is there anything at all _you_ find pretty about us?”

Jinyoung’s grin gradually faded, his eyes looking at Jaebum in pity.

“You know my opinion.”

The merman sighed at that, leaning the side of head onto his arms as he turned toward Jinyoung.

“So there’s absolutely nothing you could ever like about us? All you see when you look at me is a threatening, ugly monster?”

“Not you…It’s not you I have a problem with. It’s your kind in general.”

Jaebum looked away, his lips turning into a small, droopy pout. Jinyoung felt a sudden urge to cheer the merman up, not wanting to fray their fragile bond any more than it already was.

“I like those two moles above your eye.” Jinyoung said quietly, cursing at himself for coming up with the most insignificant thing to complement Jaebum on. But Jeabum seemed interested, his tail perking up as he pondered,

“We don’t often get to look at ourselves, except in the reflection of the water when we are on dry land. Can you show me which side they are on? I always forget.” Jaebum asked, raising his head up so the sailor could point to it.

Jinyoung leaned forward to brush his fingers over the spot where the moles were, showing Jaebum that it was on his left side.

Jaebum closed his eyes at the feeling with a deep sigh, tilting his head more to the left to press himself closer to Jinyoung’s fingers. The sailor blushed, quickly pulling his hand away but continuing to observe the merman.

“Your skin is very soft…” Jinyoung mumbled, trying to break the awkward silence.

“What were you expecting?” Jaebum mused, opening his eyes to stare at Jinyoung. The fire reflecting in them, mirroring their searing warmth, made Jinyoung squirm in his spot, suddenly itching from the sand stuck to his legs that wasn’t a problem before.

“I don’t know…the feeling of scales, like on your tail?”

“A part of me is human. You always seem to forget that.” Jaebum noted, his expression unreadable.

Jinyoung remembered the feeling of the merman’s cheeks from yesterday when he brushed the sand off of it, the scene coming back to him in all its vividness. It made him think of the first time he saw Jaebum’s tail.

“Your scales are also… _nice_ ,” The sailor tried to explain, for lack of better word, “How did you get your colors?”

“Same as the eye color. We get it from one of our parents or relative down the line. My mother had a dark maroon tail. A lot of my friends say I look like her.”

“That’s cool…People who knew me and my parents also said that.”

“She must have been beautiful, then.” Jaebum said, too fast, making both of them turn red at what the statement implied.

Jinyoung cleared his throat, watching Jaebum burry his face into the crook of his arms, his fluffy hair the only thing peeking out. The gesture confused Jinyoung, once again making him see Jaebum like he would see anybody else, rather than the monster _he was_. It just seemed impossible that the siren would accidentally complement him.

 _‘It could only be a well-calculated trick’_ Jinyoung thought, keeping him distrustful.  


They talked until sunset again, the lights reflected on Jaebum’s scales play tricks on Jinyoung’s eyes, making him believe he was staring at a million rubies and onyxes, cuprites, quartz, taking Jinyoung on a walk in a jewelry store. Jaebum saw the look in Jinyoung’s eye, so he moved his tail around, letting more of the light reflect on it, entertaining Jinyoung. He smiled at the sailor’s childish wonder, making him see riches he could never otherwise see.

But as soon as the sun hid behind the waters for another night, Jinyoung let out an exhausted groan, moving closer to scoop Jaebum into his arms.

“So you will tie me up again?” Jaebum asked, placing his hands over Jinyoung’s as they reached for him, stopping them in motion.

“I’m sorry.” Jinyoung whispered, his hands trying to gently shake off Jaebum’s hold, but the merman persisted,

“It was so good to be free. Please… _Please_ , let me stay like this.”

“I can’t. I – “

He all of a sudden remembered that he forgot to check on his walkie-talkie since morning. He hurriedly got up, trying to turn it on, and it seemed to show some signal but still didn’t give any answer when spoken to it.

“If you promise to leave my colony alone, I won’t escape…You can take me away.”

“We both know that’s not true. It’s only natural you would try to escape.” Jinyoung sighed, throwing his walkie-talkie back to the side and crouching down to pick Jaebum up. Jaebum let him this time, leaning against the sailor’s chest in defeat.

“Please…” He tried one more time, “I know you are not evil. I know you don’t want to do this.”

Jinyoung laughed bitterly, reaching for the ropes as he tied it around Jaebum’s wrists.

“You said yourself not long ago that I’m heartless. You keep fooling me, but I think two more days at most and we will be out of here.”

“I was wrong.” Whispered the merman but decided not to push Jinyoung any further, who regretfully run his fingers through Jaebum’s hair, placing them behind his ear.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated, the words hardly suffice for anything.

He slept dreamlessly that night, praying that the muffled sobs he was hearing were only real in his imagination. He couldn’t figure out why he felt so much guilt weighing down his consciousness if he believed Jaebum was trying to trick him. If all those glances and sobs were nothing but a lie, then it shouldn’t feel this sincere. It shouldn’t make Jinyoung feel like a villain for doing his job.

  
The next morning, he woke up with a throbbing headache, the sand painfully stinging his eyes. He wasn’t able to drink fresh water in a while, his lips cracked and dry on the surface. He hoped it would rain today and that his walkie-talkie would come back to life before it runs out of battery.

He found Jaebum softly smiling and swirling his tail in the waters, looking like he was playing with something. The sailor stepped closer to see a seahorse under the bubbling waves,

“Do you like them?” He asked the merman, his lips mirroring the siren’s smile without meaning to.

“Yes,” Jaebum said, his voice quiet and raspy, and Jinyoung tried not to think about the fact that it probably sounded hurt because he spent the night crying. “They are my favorite.”

It reminded Jinyoung of what Mark told him, where Jackson always sent baby crabs his way to let Mark know he was near.

Jinyoung imaged what Jaebum would look like swirling and dancing with a bunch of tiny sea horses, laughing and holding them in his palms. Not in an aquarium this time, but staying in the sea, speedily swimming through tall castles of coral reefs, leaving the seahorses spinning behind him until they got dizzy.

He didn’t notice himself just beaming at the thought, the merman watching Jinyoung lose focus, smiling to himself like he was in another world.  
He huffed, judging the man, to which Jinyoung woke up from his daydream, frowning at the reality of a grumpy Jaebum.

“What?” Jinyoung asked, equally as judging.

“Nothing.” The merman replied, deciding to turn his head toward the waters instead.

“They have sea horses at the aquatic reservations, too.”

“You still don’t get it? I don’t want to live in captivity.” Jaebum oppugned, frustrated and pained at Jinyoung continuing to be in denial.

“You will not be a captive. You will have plenty of space and friends. You will have everything you have now, even more!”

“Except freedom. We will be used. And don’t lie to me, I’m sure they punish the ones who try to resist. But how could we not? We are being forced out of our homes. The sea is our home. I don’t want to be an experiment. I don’t want to be something people look at and use. Would you want to be in my place? Answer me honestly, Sailor.”

Jinyoung deflected the question, his lips curling downward,

“All I care about is to clean the waters from monsters like your kind. Freedom doesn’t have a place in this equation.”

But it made him think. The value of freedom – Jinyoung thought it was such a human thing to yearn for. Yet it seemed like the concept was just as desirable to the merman, too. One more thing to add to the things they never taught him at the Academy.

They never taught him about the sirens’ culture. Other than their anatomy, Jinyoung realized, he knew very little about them, turning Jaebum more into a stranger than a monster.

He untied Jaebum like last time, bringing him to his shelter and they spent the day mostly in silence. Jaebum was not in a talkative mood, and Jinyoung felt the disappointment of it suffocate him, knowing that Jaebum was mad at him. This in turn made Jinyoung mad, too, because he was still trying to convince himself that the siren was a beast in disguise. No matter how human he could get, at the core where it really counts, he was dangerous, and Jinyoung tried to remind himself of his mission as an ROK official.

At some point however, while he was stretching his legs after keeping them crossed for a long time, he could feel Jaebum’s gaze on him, stuttering to ask,

“I never interacted with a human as long as I did with you. Can I…Can I touch your leg?”

“Why would you?!” Jinyoung replied, shocked at the sudden proposition.

“I never felt human legs before. I can’t even imagine what it must be like. Is it fun to walk?”

“Is it fun to swim?” Jinyoung measured the merman up, trying to figure out what tricks he was trying to play on him this time.

“Not after a while…”

“That’s the same with walking. It’s nothing but a habit at this point. But I enjoy going out for a walk in forests and parks near my city. Especially around my birthday in the autumn.”

“What is a forest? Like the one behind us?”

Jinyoung nodded.

“A forest is a bunch of them. It’s very calming. I often tried to find jobs that had a park near them so that I could go there during my lunch break and be closer to something beyond my four walls and a computer. My days were painstakingly boring otherwise.”

“You felt like you were imprisoned, right?”

“Very much so.”

“That’s how I would feel in a cage, too.”

 _Of course._ This is where he was getting at.

“Jaebum - stop it! You won’t be in a cage, you will be in a gigantic aquarium!” Jinyoung blurted out, tired of their conversations always looping back to this somehow.

“Yes, an aquarium that has four walls. A limit.” Jaebum insisted, until Jinyoung huffed in annoyance and laid down onto his back, massaging his temples to ease his headache. The merman watched him without a sound, until he asked in an uncertain voice,

“Can I still touch your leg?”

“You are out of your mind.” Jinyoung sighed, growing weary of everything around him.

“I’m curious.” – Jaebum whispered, his tail curling in the sand toward Jinyoung, the ends caressing Jinyoung’s thigh invitingly. Jinyoung sat up at that, balancing himself on his elbows. Jaebum’s tail felt tickling, like a feather, turning up a searing heat inside the pit of his stomach. He gulped, forcing his eyes to stay open. Jaebum laid his head next to Jinyoung’s side, looking up at him from behind his lashes.  
  
“Please? Let me?”

Jinyoung shivered at the plea before giving in, moving one of his legs closer to Jaebum, letting the merman slide his hands up and down his shins. It was covered in cuts and bruises from the countless practice mission, flooding his mind with memories of Youngjae and _Mark._ Even though he had times before when he thought he will drown in his own blood, when he thought his heart will give in to the pain, no physical wound could even come close to the pain he felt at the memory of Mark betraying him. Betraying his _duty_. His mission. Justice. And now, Jinyoung started to feel like a traitor himself, until the soft tapping of the merman’s fingers on his calf distracted him.

He tried not to jerk his leg away as much as he wanted to, especially when the merman started to move toward his knees, his fingers sliding under the folded jeans, pinching his thigh.

“Your leg feels different from what I imagined it would be like. You have so much more fat despite their strength. My tail is almost just muscle.” Jaebum noted, surprised to see his fingers leave temporary red marks at the spots he touched Jinyoung’s skin.

“Now that you mention, I never got a chance to touch your tail other than while I was holding you. Would that be fine?” Jinyoung asked, equally intrigued to explore the merman’s body.

Without waiting for permission, Jinyoung rolled onto his side next to Jaebum, placing his hand on his tail, his short nails gliding over the siren’s scales in the opposite direction.

“S-sailor…” Jaebum gasped, his upper body pulling himself away despite his tail leaning more into the touch.

“Hm?” Jinyoung hummed, continuing to run his fingers up and down Jaebum’s lower body.

The merman didn’t reply, just closed his eyes, feeling his body tremble at Jinyoung’s fingers tease over each of the scales.

Jinyoung loved the way they shined, the dark red tones an artful contrast to Jaebum’s light beige skin and auburn hair, his reddish lips stuck open in the breathy whimpers he let out.

“I-I’ve never been touched like this before.” The merman explained, voice quivering, trying to pull himself away, but Jinyoung sat up, keeping his hands firmly on the merman, moving up to hold Jaebum’s hips.

“How does it feel?” Jinyoung asked, his fingers drawing light circles above Jaebum’s hip bones where the skin molded into the scales, making the siren moan, squeezing his eyes shut.

“It feels unusual…and new…and _good_ …But you need to stop.”

“But if it feels good, why would you want me to stop?” Jinyoung mused, his body jolting from the rush of adrenaline at seeing the merman bashfully cover his face, embarrassed of the sounds leaving him.

Jaebum refused to answer, just bit down on his lower lip again, making them even redder. Jinyoung reached for Jaebum’s wrists to pin them above his head, forcing the merman to look up.

The siren was so sensitive to each touch, groaning and trying to wiggle away, but under strenuous and endless days of navy training, Jinyoung was able to hold the merman with little difficulty, the push-ups they had to do as punishments paying off for once.

He let out a mischievous chuckle at the sight.

“Don’t laugh at me!” Jaebum commanded meekly, never before treated like this as the leader of his colony, the other sirens bowing and showing him great respect. But Jinyoung was toying with him, tickling his sides and scales to make Jaebum moan out more, holding his arms down so he had nothing to cover himself with.

He wondered where his dignity went, finding himself weak under Jinyoung’s caressing touch, the sailor’s laughter and smile making him feel powerless.

“If we were in the waters…you would regret t-this.” Jaebum mumbled, trying to get out of the sailor’s grasp in an effort to preserve his remaining pride.

“Oh, really? But we are not in the waters. We are on _my_ playground.” Jinyoung whispered into the merman’s ear, an unfamiliar sensation washing over Jaebum. A moan got stuck in his throat, mouth gaping as he furrowed his brows in desperation,

“Please. Your touch feels strange and I shouldn’t feel this way…You must let me go.” Jaebum asked breathlessly, turning his head toward Jinyoung’s, staring into his eyes with almost no distance separating their faces.

Jinyoung seemed to forget where he was – who he was, adoring the little, frustrated and needy whimpers that escaped the merman after every touch, his hold on his wrists sliding down to find their place in Jaebum’s hair, gently running his fingers through his rich, wavy locks.

“Jinyoung…” Jaebum sighed, not knowing where to turn, feeling overwhelmed from all the warmth tingling his body. “I need you to stop. Please, I can’t f-feel this way.”

“Where’s the proud leader of the colony now?” Jinyoung grinned, but his eyes shined of admiration. “Do you _want_ me to stop?”

The merman’s skin was close to flawless, the moles on his chest, stomach, sides, and face scattered around, almost as if an artist took a paintbrush and flicked it, watching the paint blotch the canvas.

“Don’t look at me like this…” Jaebum asked, the sailor’s gaze consuming him.

“Like how?...I’m just looking. Would you like me to close my eyes?” Jinyoung smirked, not waiting for the merman’s reply as he did so on his own. He flinched when he felt Jaebum’s fingers unexpectedly glide over his face, the siren’s curious fingers exploring all his features as if he was blind.

“Growing up in the sea, it was always easy to identify with my aquatic roots. Humans felt so distant. But having you here makes me see the other side of me better. Say that you see it, too? That we are not so far from each other?”

Jinyoung listened with his eyes closed, feeling weightless under the chiming rhythm of Jaebum’s voice. His fingers tipped toward Jaebum’s sides, the merman’s soft skin making his body slip through Jinyoung’s fingers like silk. A part of him was alarmed at the comfort, finding himself in a sleepwalker’s state of mind. But the other part of him was craving, very much awake and burning.

He opened his eyes to look into the merman’s, whose gaze was begging for the answer Jinyoung would never give him. Instead, Jinyoung blinked at him apologetically, his arms wishing to untangle themselves from Jaebum’s body, who, at the feeling of the sailor trying to pull away, quickly wrapped him in his arms, holding him close as the silence swallowed them up. Perhaps he didn’t want Jinyoung to stop, after all.

The sailor knew he was breaking all the rules in the book, the image of him in his freshly ironed ROK uniform and marching to battle wavering like the surface of the water when a rock skips on it, scattering the image.

Jinyoung was falling into the arms of the enemy, by all means possible, his head now resting on Jaebum’s chest, the leader’s arms unwilling to let go.

He cursed at himself for falling under the merman’s trap, letting Jaebum cunningly seduce him.

‘ _All this could only be a trick_ ,’ the sailor decided, tearing himself away from Jaebum’s embrace.

 

Despite a couple of hours passing by, things didn’t get easier as they were eating their lunch, Jaebum nagging the sailor again.

“You mentioned that they mute sirens when they catch them…What will happen to my voice?”

Jinyoung stopped chewing his food, unbothered to be polite as he spoke with his mouth full,

“The details don’t matter as much. But they use chemicals that permanently damage the vocal cords. Muted sirens are not as dangerous, but they could still organize an upheaval and kill in other ways, so they won’t let them back.”

Jaebum pressed his eyes shut and visibly shuddered, his voice breaking,

“I don’t want to lose my voice…”

“You said you never used it to drown anyone, so what difference does it make?” Jinyoung asked, making all the efforts in the world to sound intimidating, still under the suspicion that Jaebum was trying to fool him.

However, under that suspicion, the sight of Jaebum shake from fear coiled Jinyoung’s heart.

“We don’t just sing for humans! We sing for each other, too. My mother used to sing me lullabies to help me fall asleep. Just the thought of her losing her voice…” He cut himself off, his bottom lip trembling between his teeth.

Jinyoung felt miserable, not knowing how to help Jaebum calm down. He started to lose his appetite, the fish that tasted great just minutes ago suddenly sour and inedible. He slowly put it aside, trying to keep his gaze away from Jaebum, but every time he heard the sea wash over the sand, the sound of the tiny pebbles shifting with the currents as they collided reminded Jinyoung of freedom. The freedom to be washed ashore, the freedom to choose to go back, or abandon it altogether. The image of Jaebum swimming to dry land, carefree, sunbathing on the rocks before jumping right back, the movement of his tail making the same clashing sounds as the sand does when it meets the sea. Jinyoung sighed, finding it hard to speak somehow,

“Listen Jaebum. I can talk with the Captain to let you keep your voice. I think I could convince him. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep but if you want me to, I promise I can try.”

Jaebum looked at Jinyoung in disbelief and confusion, his eyes sparkling like diamonds from the thin film of tears covering them,

“You just want me locked away…You don’t care. You hate us…you hate me. If my people can’t keep their voices, I don’t want mine either!”

Jinyoung respected that even when Jaebum didn’t have to be the leader of his colony, facing an offer to somewhat save himself, he still wholeheartedly choose to stand with the others.

It was honorable.

“What about your colony? If I ask him to allow most of the members in your colony to keep it?” Jinyoung offered the compromise.

“No, Jinyoung! Don’t you see the problem? None of them should lose their voice! It’s ours! Don’t take it away from us!” The merman said, half pleading, half demanding. It brought back a familiar emotion to Jinyoung, the way Mark pleaded him to understand why he failed the unit.

“I see we will not come to an agreement. But fine, if you don’t want to keep your voice, I won’t ask him.” Jinyoung finished, his pride hurt from Jaebum’s constant criticism.

That made the merman take back from his tone, lowering his head in vanquish without saying another word. He seemed to be more on the quiet side anyway, someone who won’t speak unless they really have something to say. He had a fighting spirit to him, the way he kept arguing for his colony.

“I…” Jaebum began but left it unfinished, “Never mind.”

“What did you want to say?”

“Nothing.” The merman whispered, ducking his head away.

“I’m sure it wasn’t nothing,” Jinyoung said, moving closer to the merman. “Tell me.”

“What difference would it make?”

“I want to know. I _have to_ know.” He stated simply, the merman glancing toward him before looking down at the sand.

“When you touched me today…you were so tender. I thought maybe you changed your mind? Maybe you didn’t see me as a monster anymore…I saw something different in your eyes. You made me feel so happy before you turned away…I know it was stupid of me.”

Jinyoung blinked, startled, before collecting himself, the anger finding him.

“You keep playing tricks on me. You might not be using your voice but I’m sure you are trying to wrap me around your fingers. “ _Oh, I just want to touch your leg._ ” I was the stupid one falling for it.”

“What do you mean? I really just wanted to feel it! I don’t have any tricks. All I have is my voice...”

“Then use it! Damn it, Jaebum! Why wouldn’t you use it?” Jinyoung asked, knowing his earpiece would block the sound.

“I don’t want to hurt you! I hoped you would see me as I am. I know you’ve been let down by my kind, I want you to see us the way we are. The previous leader of the colony was fearful of humans, they tried to catch him multiple times. He just wanted to protect his colony. Maybe I’m a failure for not doing the same…”

“I’m an agent of the ROK. It’s my duty to capture colonies. If you don’t hunt us, we will hunt you.” Jinyoung replied, remembering back to the Captain’s words before he left the main base.

_“There are only two types of people in this world. Those who hunt and those who are hunted. If we don’t hunt the sirens, they will hunt us, and that is as simple as that.”_

“That is not true. Not everyone wants to hunt down others. Look at me! What tricks am I playing?”

“Trying to seduce me!”

Jaebum let out a choked laugh, shaking his head.

“How long could I pretend I’m fluttered by your presence? How _much of it_ could I pretend? You can be so childish sometimes. On dry land, all I have is my voice, which I’m unwilling to use. My only trick is trying to be patient and help you understand me more the way I’m trying to understand you…and I know you are not heartless. I can sense it. I know you don’t want to hurt me.” Jaebum said, his hand failing to reach Jinyoung’s before Jinyoung pulled it away.

Jaebum bit down on his tongue, his heart sinking at the rejection. It took him a lot of courage to reach for the sailor’s hand.

But in reality, Jinyoung ached for Jaebum’s hand, too, the sadness covering them like fog on a chilly, rainy, day, visible to even a bystander.

This was what he wanted. Capture the leader before he could warn the rest of his colony, then seize all of them. One less threat in the seas. One more victory for the ROK. No more orphaned children. This was the justice he was fighting for. But since when did justice feel this unforgiving?  
                                                                                                                                                    

When he took his walkie-talkie out later during the day and it started functioning again, ready for him to alert the main base, he caught himself contemplating on the last few days with Jaebum. Time always went fast at the Academy, leaving Jinyoung no time to self-reflect. On the island with the merman, that was almost all Jinyoung could do. Time felt distorted, moving back to the past, dragged-out.

The truth got lost somewhere along the shore, washed away like footsteps. The things he was so sure of all this time crumbled up, the simple things, forcing Jinyoung to put together stray puzzle pieces of his life to form a picture he was denying to see all along. He was denying to see – but that didn’t make it any less real, the siren’s loving embrace still tingling on his skin from not long ago, the necklace in his pocket, and his heart, heavy with the rain from all the storms he had survived.

Who was he besides the pain and anger? What else defined him? If someone were to steal the memory of his past, would he still be content with what he was doing right now?

Would his parents be proud?

Could Jaebum have really pretended everything?

The answers left him nearly in tears, and there were no alibies remaining.

He shoved the device back into the pocket of his jeans, coming to terms that he won’t use it for a while.

 

After they had diner, Jaebum fell asleep in a food coma, his tongue softly darting out of his mouth, sleeping soundly. But Jinyoung remained awake, walking deeper into the island to collect more wood and fiber, starting to build a boat like he learned it during his first few lessons at the Academy.

He knew it wasn’t too late to change his mind and just call the main base. Report the colony. Get Jaebum out of his life and never look back.

But he also knew that if he truly wanted to make his parents proud, then his parents would want him to do the right thing, and the right thing didn’t seem to be locking Jaebum up anymore.

Jaebum had multiple opportunities to save himself by seducing Jinyoung, having no idea about the earpiece that would prevent that.

He didn’t try once, always wanting to talk things out with Jinyoung instead. Would a monster care to do that? Where was the vicious beast Jinyoung learned of? It seemed like everything that he heard from BamBam, Mark, and Jaebum added up, shaping itself into an alternative truth, battling against the Captain’s words and his own agony over his past. It was easier to blame a whole group for all his misfortune rather than fight against a shapeless pain, but now he stood before the sea with no one left to blame.

The Captain, who was like a father to Jinyoung. Disappointing him felt like a betrayal of its own.

But caught between two worlds, Jinyoung found the truth to be somewhere in the middle, where no siren’s voice or Medal of Honor reached him.

 

It didn’t matter if Jaebum were to escape, so Jinyoung didn’t bother to tie him to the pole, and just let him snore beside his tent as he went to sleep upon finishing most of the boat. He continued building it the next morning, waking up early to get it done before the afternoon, placing Jaebum near the water to avoid getting him sick.

Jaebum woke up to the smell of fish, something he could never get bored of, contrary to Jinyoung, who felt nauseous just at the thought of taking another bite. Jaebum stayed on the ground, waiting for Jinyoung to untie him, until he felt his nose itch so he automatically moved to scratch it, and found himself able to without ropes holding him back.

Before he could ask about it, Jinyoung was already bringing him breakfast.

“What is happening?” Jaebum mumbled, holding the fish in his hands hesitantly.

“We are leaving today after you finish your breakfast.”

“How?” The merman shook his head until Jinyoung pointed to the other side, the little boat he built already floating above, secured to the pole to keep it there until later use.

“What about – “

“Just eat.” The sailor interrupted, reaching to wipe away the sand on Jaebum’s cheeks, a welcomed and familiar touch to both. Jaebum was still hurt, feeling unwanted. Yet he couldn’t stay mad for long at the sight of the sailor’s pearly smile and delicate touch. His eyelids fluttered close, sheepishly moving closer to Jinyoung, his tail wrapping around his legs.

“You didn’t tie me up. I could have left.” He stated, opening his eyes to look at the sailor.

“I know.” Jinyoung answered, letting go of the merman’s cheeks so he could start eating.

Still confused, Jaebum got to eating, swiftly finishing the food. Jaebum was one of the fastest eaters Jinyoung had ever encountered, sloppily stuffing his mouth with multiple pieces at the same time.

He then took Jaebum into his arms like many times before, placing him onto the boat. He cut the rope tying them to the pole with a sharp rock, throwing it back onto the island as they set to sailing.

“I could still just roll out, you know…” Jaebum whispered, in a daze as to why the sailor let him stay free on the boat when the sea was just an arm’s reach away.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Jinyoung answered casually.

“What do you mean?! You are taking me and my colony away. Where’s your walkie-talkie thing? What about your big government – “

“I’m not taking you there. I’m taking you back to your colony. I’ll keep yours a secret.”

“Wait…wait. W-why?” Jaebum’s eyes widened in hope and disbelief.

“Nothing will bring my parents back from the dead. I can’t see anything justifying your imprisonment. I just…I really can’t explain it away anymore. I wanted to lock your kind up because I thought sirens were monsters. I’m still not fully convinced you are not, but I also can’t prove you are.”

“How do I know _you_ are not the one playing a trick on _me_?”

Jinyoung glanced back at him, shrugging,

“Then jump. I’m sure you could find your way back.”

Jaebum had many things he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words. Instead, he watched Jinyoung paddle them forward in silence.

Jinyoung’s broad strokes and shoulders easily tamed the calm waters in their way, the siren observing the outline of his muscles through the white T-shirt sticking to it, his legs lifting him tall and far above the sea.

“How do you know which way to go?” Jaebum asked.

“We are not far from the Jeju Islands. I know this area by heart at this point. It’s very intuitive.”

The merman nodded, although Jinyoung wasn’t facing him to see it.

“Jinyoung, I’m sorry about what happened to your parents…I will make sure my colony will watch out for any non-military personnel. It won’t happen again.”

Jinyoung closed his eyes for a second, the last bit of vengeance he was clutching onto slipping away, leaving it behind in the waters.

“That’s all I could ever ask for.”

 

They arrived a little while later, Jaebum’s tail excitedly knocking on the deck, his eyes filled with brightness and life at the familiar scents only he could pick up on. Jinyoung stopped paddling, taking Jaebum into his arms one last time to gently lift him out of the boat.

“Take care.” He said, brief and awkward, trying to let the merman go, but Jaebum reached after his hands, intertwining their fingers once he was in the water.

“Will you ever come back and visit?”

“I don’t know. I hope not.”

Jaebum’s heart skipped a much needed beat.

“You… _hope_ not?”

Jinyoung hurriedly explained himself, squeezing Jaebum’s hands reassuringly.

“If I would ever come and visit, that would be because of the government. I don’t want to bother your home anymore.”

“Oh…but I meant, not as a sailor, but as…just you. In your free-time. Would you ever visit this place?” He asked, his face moving closer to Jinyoung’s as he whispered, “Would you ever visit _me_?”

Jinyoung turned away, for the merman had moved too close, but Jaebum let go of one of his hands to softly reach under the sailor’s chin, tilting his head back towards himself.

“Would you?”

Jinyoung didn’t answer, staring into Jaebum’s eyes as he swallowed hard. Jaebum lowered his head, pulling the sailor’s hand to his heart,

“Swim with me? At least if this is the last time I see you?”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Jinyoung muttered, terrified that he would not be able to let Jaebum go if he gets a chance to hold him tightly. He got _too_ fond of him. He had to cut his ties loose.

“Please, Jinyoung.” Jaebum chanted, tugging on Jinyoung’s hand, who in turn pressed his eyelids shut, wondering if the ear device in his ears failed, and now this was the siren’s song that will lead him to drown. He could feel his bones tremble, his entire body almost slipping out of the boat the way his father’s did.

But Jaebum wasn’t singing. It was just him, speaking, and nothing else. All that magic was only in Jinyoung’s head and heart, his strength swept away by something way less mythical.

“Let me go Jaebum.” Jinyoung begged, trying to muster the strength to sound confident even though he was undeniably torn.

“No…Jinyoung…Don’t go. I don’t want us to part like this.” Jaebum implored, shaking his head as their foreheads touched, their eyes remaining closed until they separated.

“I was wrong about a lot of things in my life. But out of all those things, I would say calling you a monster and hurting you is the one I regret the most. I need to sort things out in my head…until then, I’m still your enemy. I’m still an ROK official…and we must pretend none of this happened…I guess I’m the one surrendering.” Jinyoung laughed, its sound bittersweet, eliciting a desperate sob from Jaebum, as he let Jinyoung go, feeling the waves wash him further and further away.

Jinyoung only dared to open his eyes once the merman’s figure long disappeared into the horizon.

Jaebum was gone but he took a part of the sailor with him, and Jinyoung was left feeling more lost than he had ever been.


	4. Lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaebum in his lovely (!!) bucket hat: https://ibb.co/hhM21v

Looking around and talking with the other sailors, Jinyoung knew for a fact that nothing changed. Everything was as should be like a week before. Everyone spoke just the same. It was almost as if time stopped while Jinyoung was gone.

And yet nothing could explain why everything looked and felt different then, except that _Jinyoung_ changed.

The practice missions felt purposeless, and without Mark, the team was incomplete. The dorm was quiet, even as Youngjae tried his best to keep themselves in good spirits.

Jinyoung stayed awake until dawn more and more often, staring at his blank ceiling, wondering what he was fighting for.

He took the necklace out of his pocket, observing it, waiting for the familiar sense of duty and anger to wash over him like it always did and give him a clear-cut answer. But all he felt was the coldness of the stone with no thought of the sirens.

If there was any truth to home being where the heart is, it seemed to explain why Jinyoung didn’t feel at home any longer. The Captain continued to invite him over for dinner, but the glamour of it was wearing off with each passing day at the Academy.

The lectures didn’t make sense.  


“Sirens harm our ecosystem for many reasons. They dirty their habitat and have led to several fish species going extinct.”

But Jinyoung remembered back to Mark’s words about how clean the waters are where colonies live.

Jinyoung remembered _Jaebum._

He raised his hand, asking the Captain,

“But if they destroy their habitat so much, wouldn’t that mean it’s easier to find them? If those territories are so damaged, how is it possible that humans are able to expand there?”

The Captain blinked at him, pursing his lips together, the entire class turning toward Jinyoung.

His grades began to drop.  


 

“Jinyoung, I clearly went over this many times in class. Sirens don’t feel pain the way we do. They are incapable of crying in the human sense. Those tears are just a tool used against us. These creatures are centuries old, they know how to lure sympathetic people.”

“If they can’t feel pain the way we do, then what’s all that screaming for? It sounded like they are very much in pain.” Replied Jinyoung, referring to the previous hunts they attended, the sound of the sirens’ rattling screams a chilling reminder.  
  
It only aggravated the Captain, the man’s hand slapping against the table in a warning manner.

“Is this all because of that Mark kid? Did he mess up something in your head? Son, he is not the example to follow.”

Jinyoung was baffled.

The hall of fame for the sailors in the special unit, decorating the endless hallways that led from the barracks to the auditorium, left Jinyoung unbothered, unrecognizable from the times he would actually stop in his tracks to admire them, dreaming of the day his name would be engraved on one of the empty gold plates.  


He knew he urgently needed to speak with Mark, so he turned to Youngjae one night for help.

“How am I supposed to find out where he is?” Whispered Youngjae while Jinyoung snuck them out through the backdoor, making sure the bugs hidden in their room couldn’t record their conversation.

“You are good at picking up on these things. I know you can figure it out like you did with our room.”

“Maybe I can, but why do you want to find him so much? He’s a traitor! The Captain said - ”

“It doesn’t matter what the Captain said, but…I can’t tell you why…At least, not yet.”

Youngjae didn’t look convinced, his lips frozen in a scowl.

“Please, Youngjae. Help me figure it out. I already looked everywhere I could think of.”

His friend stared deep into Jinyoung’s eyes, their brotherhood standing strong against the winds of change.

After hesitating for a couple of seconds, Youngjae nodded dutifully, reporting back to Jinyoung not even a week later, holding a piece of paper in his hand with an address scribbled down on it.

  
The address led Jinyoung to an abandoned military site, filled with ditches and buildings that once functioned as prisons. After hours of looking through each building, Jinyoung found Mark behind one of the cells, lying asleep in the dirt. His body was covered in bruises, blood dried around his lips and under his nose.

“Mark? Are you awake?”

‘ _Are you alive?_ ’

He wanted to ask, but sighed in relief when Mark began to move, opening his eyes to look at Jinyoung.

“J-Jinyoung?”

“I was worried you were dead.”

“Almost. I’m not that far from it.” His friend muttered, hardly audible.

“Mark…you were right. They are not monsters.”

Mark seemed to immediately know what he meant.

“Look at me, Jinyoung. A siren would never do shit like this. I’ve been rotting over here for about two weeks, maybe more?…I lost track of time. They are trying to break me.”

“Why don’t they just discharge you instead of – instead of _this_?”

“Because they know I’m not the only one. Both in the Academy and outside, people are starting to see through their crap. They want to set an example with my torture. Scare people into silence. I know students are talking about me still. They can’t stop the truth forever, haltering it won’t do. Let them think this makes a difference. But while I’m dying in this hell-hole, other people are continuing to work outside...” Mark coughed, closing his eyes to conserve his remaining energy.

Jinyoung sighed, resting his head against the prison grids.

“I feel so stupid for not seeing this all along…”

“Don’t. I only realized things once I fell in love with Jackson…My Jackson…I would die for him right here, right now, and I wouldn’t be sorry. You fall in love with their culture…with who they are…”

 _…It was late in the afternoon when Mark drove down to the beach, taking his boat out of the back of his truck and sailing to the island a few hours away to meet Jackson. They met on Fridays, when Mark had a lot of steam to blow off after a chaotic week at work._  
  
It didn’t take long until Mark felt like he was living for Fridays. He woke up on a Saturday morning, dying to see the light of next week Friday, hoping he will get through the week sanely without seeing Jackson.

_Those were the times he began to seriously consider leaving his job behind to find work in the non-profit sector, promoting the rescue of mercreatures. He wouldn’t survive another day if he found out Jackson was captured._

_When he thought of Jackson, he thought of spending the day with him at the edges of the water, listening to the siren’s recap of his week. The way Jackson could talk about the smallest things, like getting lost in a field of seaweed, was fascinating to Mark, watching the merman expressively gesture with his face and hands, making Mark feel like he was in the cinema instead, watching a movie._

_And at the end, after Jackson would finish his rambling, Mark would kiss him until none of them had air left in their lungs, the feeling of Jackson’s plushy lips living on his own until the next the time._

_And that was the way it should be._

_Not driving down to the aquatic reservation and observe Jackson behind a glass case like some cheap attraction for tourists. Not some kind of eye-candy for affluent children on a school trip. Jackson was to be loved, and loving a wild aquatic creature was to let it stay home. If home was all the seas of the world, then Mark would rather send every single person to Mars than to take Jackson away from the seas._

_Just as he rolled up his trousers and kicked his shoes off, squatting down at the shore, he could already see little baby crabs clumsily making their way towards him to curiously explore._

_He then saw Jackson’s tail wave at him from afar, the siren flipping his hair and flashing him a smile as he rose from the water, never failing to astonish Mark with the sight. It couldn’t get old, the brightness of that smile putting the setting sun behind him to shame._

_“Don’t you want to come closer and swim with me?”_

_Winked Jackson, the end of his tail beckoning like an index finger for Mark to follow. He had some of the baby crabs swimming around him before he blew at them with his mouth, spinning them in Mark’s direction._

_They had never swim together before, Mark usually staying at the shallow ends of the water and Jackson holding himself up between his legs, his lower half staying under the surface._

_Mark’s lips curled into a small smile at the invitation, scooping up the baby crabs with his palms before gently placing them back, watching them swim away._

_“And then you will start singing and drown me?” He teased, but the flirty smile on Jackson’s face dropped in a heartbeat, the merman hurriedly making his way closer to Mark, reaching out his hand for Mark to take._

_“I would never, ever do that to you.” Jackson said, emphasizing each word._

_Mark took Jackson’s hand and slowly stepped into the waters, hugging the merman close by the waist._

_“I know…sorry. I was just joking.”_

_Jackson shook his head, lacing his arms around Mark’s neck._

_“Please don’t joke around with that Markie…” He pouted, leaning backwards so the two of them splashed into the water, Jackson twirling them deeper like liquid flowing down the drain. Mark felt like he was in the middle of a tornado, the world growing blurry but his senses heightened._

_They kissed and held each other until Mark had to get back to the surface for air, gasping, his lungs expanding, shriveled, but his heart wouldn’t let him stay up for long before grabbing Jackson again and diving right back in. He opened his eyes just enough to see the light yellow tint of the water illuminate Jackson’s features, his purplish scales like lilacs and his brown eyes the shade of cinnamon staring back at Mark in an enthralling gaze._

_Mark realized, that even if Jackson wanted to drown him, he was far too deep in the wonderland of his mind to resist him. Even if one day, Mark would joke again, asking Jackson if “today was the day” the siren would drown him, and Jackson would boldly nod, Mark would still go into the waters to swim with him, and let it be. The merman didn’t need to use his voice to seduce Mark, he naturally had his own magic to him._  
  


“But what are you doing here? Did they send you over?” Mark asked, the sweet memories that had been keeping him alive fading away to be replaced by the crude reality settling in, the dirt on the floor filling up his nostrils with each breath.

“I came here to apologize…There is no way they caught you on camera. After they took you, I looked around the room and found those tiny spy audio recorders hidden under the heater and behind the speaker. If I knew they were listening in, I would have been more careful.”

“I don’t blame you. I never expected you to consider me sane, although I hoped you would think about what I said…You are smart, Jinyoung. But anger tempted you for revenge…it made you irrational…It’s alright now, I guess.”

“I met a merman…” Jinyoung blurted out, to which Mark’s head made a sudden turn as if someone yanked it to the side, his eyes shooting through Jinyoung.

“Oh?”

“He changed my mind. I went back to the colony that killed my parents. Their leader was there and asked me to leave. I captured him with my net but we got into a storm and spent a few days at a nearby island. He told me things about mercreatures they never taught us at the Academy. We’ve been fooled…Mark, I’ve been living in a lie for so long…”

Mark let out a heartfelt chuckle, surprisingly lively compared to his conditions.

“Yes…we’ve been fooled big time.”

 “I came here to get you out.”

“If they find out what you’re up to…It will be a problem and I know how much you love the Captain.”

“You are my friend, Mark. This should have never come between us. Forget about the Captain.”

Mark closed his eyes, coughing up some more blood beside the pool already surrounding him.

“Brothers for life?” He asked with a faint smile.

Jinyoung nodded, his fingers poking through the rusty steel grids.

“For life.”

 

After making sure Mark was safe and hidden from the ROK’s reach, Jinyoung went back to the base, pretending as if nothing happened. The Captain didn’t seem to notice Mark’s absence, which further proved Mark’s point that he was ditched there to die on his own.

The realization changed Jinyoung’s view of the Captain, turning him from that wise, fond, father figure into a closed-minded man, who was manipulating him all along. Whatever the ROK was doing to change things for the better wasn’t the answer Jinyoung wished to pride himself in believing.

Yet his newfound enlightenment didn’t give Jinyoung the relief he was looking for. After Mark’s sabotage of the first real mission, the Captain haltered the next one to make sure everyone was mentally prepared. While the rest of the unit was slowly recovering from the shock, the continued Academy lectures effectively brainwashing them, the opposite was true for Jinyoung.

Jinyoung used his weekly phone call opportunity to speak with Mark in secrecy, who sounded increasingly depressed each time they spoke. His usually composed and relaxed tone turned languid, by the end sounding more like a whine as he sobbed into the phone call,

“I c-can’t be without m-my Jackson…God, I can’t d-do this any-m-more…”

And in his dreams, Jaebum haunted him.

Sometimes, his mind replayed the last time he saw Jaebum, when the merman asked Jinyoung to swim with him, and instead of sailing away, he imaged letting Jaebum push him into the water. He imagined his arms around Jaebum as the merman pulled them down. He would hear the siren say his name again, the peal of it accompanied by Jaebum’s wide grin, causing his eyes to turn into a crescent moon shape.

Other nights, he would hear the siren moan, too close to reality, his cheeks flushed and fingers digging into Jinyoung’s shoulders, fire reflecting on his glowy skin and sparkly eyes.

More often, he would have nightmares, flashbacks from the first time he saw a colony hunt, the needle that pierced through that unknown merman’s throat replaced by Jaebum’s face, his beautiful voice turning into a cry of agony. Memories haunting him of the merman sobbing himself to sleep, tied to a pole inside the glass walls of the aquatic reservation.

Jinyoung would wake up with crocodile-sized tears milling down his cheeks, his pillowcase soaked, and the warmth of Youngjae’s arms around him as the other tried to comfort him in his sleep. But nothing offered him any salvation, with the day of their first real colony hunt approaching –

And Jinyoung was not ready.

  
“Mark, I don’t know what to do.” Jinyoung whispered through the phone.

“Does Youngjae know?”

“No, I haven’t told him. I don’t want to risk him getting expelled if they find out he knew about you. Or that…”

“…or that what?”

Jinyoung bit down on his nails as he announced,

“That I’m planning on leaving the ROK.”

Mark’s sudden gasp was the only sound exchanged for a long while after that.

“Are you sure?” Asked Mark, his voice hindered with concern, “It’s not like I’m not supporting that decision, obviously, but…this was your _life_.”

“Yeah…” Jinyoung let out a deep, shaky breath, “This was everything. But now, it means nothing. I can’t die for a cause I don’t believe in. There’s no honor in that.”

“What about your parents?”

“This isn’t justice. My parents would be _ashamed_.”

“I won’t say I’m proud…but I might just be. You got to be quick on your feet though. You have to survive next week’s mission. It’s going to be the real deal. Do you know where it will be?”

“No, they will announce it tomorrow.” Mark could hear the weariness in Jinyoung’s tone, and his heart was breaking for his friend.

“I know you have it hard now.”

“When do I not?” Jinyoung laughed bitterly, his eyes red and teary as he stared up at the lights above him.

“Get in your request for honorary discharge. Try to miss your targets on the day of the mission, then get the hell out of there.”

“Yeah, I know… ‘ will do that...”

  
But when morning came and they announced the coordinates of the colony, Jinyoung was fortunate to have been in his room, as he fell to his knees, recognizing that it was none other than Jaebum’s.

They found his colony after all. And now, his nightmares were about to come true.  


He skipped lunch despite Youngjae’s protesting, who suspiciously measured him up.

“You’ve been acting weird lately. You’re having nightmares again. Is Mark dead?” Youngjae asked, voice cautious and quiet.

Youngjae didn’t know the room was bugged, so Jinyoung rushed toward him, raising his index finger to his lips, motioning for them to go to the bathroom.

“What the fuck is going on in, Jinyoung?” The response startled Jinyoung for a second, an unfamiliar anger lingering in his usually cheerful team member’s voice, having had enough of being kept in the dark.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it - Mark is still alive,” Jinyoung began, gesturing with his hands to calm Youngjae down. “He’s at my old apartment. But that’s not the point. I have to go somewhere tonight and –“

“Wait…Slow down. One thing at the time! Where? _Again_ , where?”

“I-I can’t tell you.” Jinyoung replied, quickly adding, “And please, don’t ask where. I just have to go.”

Youngjae stared at him hard, hoping Jinyoung’s eyes would tell him the things his friend was unwilling. But as it didn’t seem to be the case, he gave up with a sigh,

“Fine…go, if you have to. I’ll cover for you. But will you come back? Can you at least tell me that much?”

“I will. I promise I’ll be back, in about three days.”

Youngjae hastily nodded, still unsure as to what was happening to his team.

“Things are falling apart, Jinyoung. _We_ are falling apart, and you are not helping me.” He muttered, smacking the door open with no regards to breaking it. Jinyoung watched him walk out and take a turn toward the cafeteria, not sparing another look at his team member.

“I’m sorry Youngjae…” Jinyoung murmured to the silence that remained.

  
That very night, Jinyoung snuck into the main base’s storage facility to steal one of their speed boats and set sailing. He was almost certain he will get caught through the camera footage but at least an evidence like this could help him get expelled from the ROK if they won’t grant him the discharge.

He didn’t take anything with himself other than a few energy bars and drinks to keep him going without any sleep, but with a faster and more up-to-date boat, he got to the colony in a day, begging all the gods of every sea in the world to let him see Jaebum again.

He told himself he was just trying to do the right thing. But deep down, where the truth lied, he was anxious to hold Jaebum close, his heart growing twice its size at the thought of running his fingers through the merman’s silky hair. His body shuddered at the thought of hearing the merman say his name. It was almost unhealthy.

And after waiting for what felt like a lifetime, he saw Jaebum’s tail peek out, that classic maroon shine incomparable to any other color Jinyoung had ever seen, and those familiar eyes, now smiling at him as the merman swam closer.

“Jinyoung! You came back! I can’t believe it!”

“I came to capture you.” Jinyoung teased, flashing that mischievous smile that had Jaebum lost.

“Then come and get me!” The siren exclaimed in glee, swimming around the ship. Jinyoung was reluctant at first – this was not what he came here for.

“I have something to tell you.” He said, voice quivering as Jaebum balanced himself on the side of the boat, tugging at the ends of his uniform,

“Tell me later.”

“I don’t think it can wait.”

“What about after you’ve told me?” He asked, voice hopeful.

Jinyoung found himself unable to deny him, so he nodded, to which the merman’s lips stretched into a winning grin, making every single nerve in Jinyoung’s body ache from firing too fast.

He cleared his throat, scooting closer to Jaebum, their noses just inches away from touching,

“The navy, the people I work for… _worked_ for…are planning to attack your colony in a few days. They know where you are.”

He tried to keep it short, wanting to give Jaebum enough time to process the news. And the news hit the siren hard, his face turning pale from the shock.

“Did you tell them where we are?”

“No!” Jinyoung’s voice ran up a few octaves, his hands clutching after Jaebum’s to envelope into his, “I swear I didn’t say a thing. I promised I wouldn’t. I came here to warn you.”

When Jaebum didn’t respond, Jinyoung continued,

“You have to move your colony to another location. I can’t stop the ROK from coming but I could warn you in time. I’m so sorry for being ignorant when we first met. I deserve none of your forgiveness. But believe me when I say I don’t want them to find you.”

“You were never ignorant, Jinyoung. You were hurt.” The merman whispered, leaning his forehead against Jinyoung’s as they’ve done before. Jinyoung gasped, relief filling up the void inside him, grateful that Jaebum trusts him even after all that he had done.

“How much time do I have?”

“About four days. Will that be enough?”

“Yes. I will start the evacuation process soon. But now…swim with me.”

“W-what?”

“You said that after you told me the news, you would swim with me. So come.” Jaebum stated, opening his eyes to look into Jinyoung’s.

“B-but I tried to capture you a-and all that…I’m your _enemy_.”

“Do you still see yourself as one?”  


He really didn’t. His uniform didn’t feel comfortable anymore, his bed didn’t feel like _his,_ the ambitions to be the top student vanished with his old vision of what “safer waters” would be like. His last strand of loyalty to the ROK was all on paper, long ready to be ripped apart.

With that conclusion, he pulled his shirt over his head and jumped into the waters, Jaebum excitedly laughing as he got a head-start, dipping under the surface. Jinyoung chuckled, chasing after him.

They met under the boat, the scattered moonlight shining on Jaebum’s face from above, his hair dancing around him in a mesmerizing flow, small bubbles forming everywhere as he continued to grin at the sailor.

Jinyoung placed his hands on the merman’s hips, almost too cautious, so Jaebum impatiently pulled him closer by the collar of his uniform, beginning to spin. Their bodies twisted around each other’s until their lips were just millimeters away from connecting.

Jinyoung paused then, his fingers clutching at the merman, not knowing what to do. The merman, sensing his hesitation, glided his hands over to cup Jinyoung’s face, his voice but a deep echo in the water,

“Jinyoung…”

He stared into Jinyoung’s eyes half-lidded, pleading and waiting for the sailor to close the gap between them.

Jinyoung was nearly breathless but had just enough air left in his lungs to clash his lips against the merman’s in an experimental, curious first kiss.

Jaebum’s lips felt even softer than his skin, despite how impossible that seemed. It was an element of its own, smoother than butter, stickier than honey, the kind of soft Jinyoung imaged clouds would be like as a child if he could bite into them.

They slowly swam back up, their lips separating only once they got back to the surface. Jinyoung inhaled as much air as he could before hungrily kissing Jaebum again, feeling like he had been deprived of him all his life and now he can’t get enough, kissing him over and over. Jaebum laughed into the kisses, finding the sailor as childish and sweet as ever, making him forget about all the danger threatening their lives.

Jaebum’s laughter was more than a sound, but a melody, and Jinyoung could have sworn it was physically mending his heart. He wanted to hear more of his voice, so he began to playfully smooth over Jaebum’s sides, hips, and scales, leaving the merman shivering in his hands.

Jaebum whimpered into the kiss, his breath hot against the sailor’s shoulder as he laid his head on it.

“W-what will happen to you?” He asked Jinyoung shakily, always thinking of the man’s safety before his own pleasure.

“I don’t know. Or more like, I know…but I would rather not think about it right now…Do you know where you will move your colony?”

“There’s an area east to the Jeju Islands. It will be a good temporary location. But I’m worried about you, Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung’s lips curled into a faint smile, his hands reaching to comb through Jaebum’s hair.

“I’ll be fine. If they don’t find out who did it, I will officially withdraw from the navy. Then, I will sail the seas until I find you again.” He replied, before abruptly adding, “If…you want me to, of course.”

Jaebum rolled his eyes, pulling the sailor under the water for another kiss in lieu of an answer.

They held each other close for a while, locked away in their own private paradise, but the sailor knew he had to break the serene and comforting silence as he began softly,

 “But in case they would find out it was me before I could leave…I want to give you something so you can remember me.”

The merman looked at him confused, his usually fluffy hair now reaching below his ears from all the water dripping out of it.

“What do you mean? You will be here with me, right? You will visit again? Jinyoung?” Jaebum asked, his voice dying away with each word.

“If they figure out that _I_ saved your colony, I will be accused of treason and imprisoned for life. I’ve seen what they did to my friend who was labeled a traitor. They ditched him in a cell, left on his own. That’s my destiny. I don’t think I will see the light of day outside my prison cell.”

“I don’t want that to happen! There has to be something we can do! We can - “

“Jaebum,” Jinyoung interrupted him gently, “In case that would still happen, let me give you this.”

He proceeded by bowing his head and pulling his necklace off.

“Would you let me put it on you?”

Jaebum froze in surprise before nodding, wrapping his hands around the sailor’s waist. Jinyoung put the necklace on Jaebum, the blue tastefully contrasting against his tanner skin and dark, red lips.

He couldn’t help but stop and stare, seeing his most beloved possession hanging on the body of his former enemy. But now, it was all just a distant memory, and Jaebum looked like a _dream._

“It belonged to my mother. You’ve seen it before, but now it’s yours. Remember that little bit of good in humans. Remember _me._ ”

“Don’t speak like this! They won’t find out! I will protect you!”

His face was more serious than Jinyoung had ever seen it, witnessing the leader inside. Jinyoung’s breath got stuck in his throat, almost believing Jaebum could do something to save him. But even though the sailor knew the truth, it was more than enough for him that Jaebum cared enough to try. He felt like jelly in the merman’s arms, unable to pretend to himself any longer that he hasn’t fallen in love.

“Why are you chuckling?” Jaebum asked, feeling the sailor snicker against his neck.

“You’ve seduced me in the end, like you knew you would.” Jinyoung replied, heavy words effortlessly rolling off his tongue in a silent confession, finding home in Jaebum’s fluttering heart.

@@@

Jinyoung tried to sneak back to his barrack without getting caught, but Youngjae woke up to the sound of the door opening. He furiously chided Jinyoung, detailing how the entire unit was searching for him since yesterday because of his continuous absence from trainings.

“You’re lucky the Captain likes you. I –“

Jinyoung grabbed Youngjae amid the sailor’s scolding, pulling themselves into the bathroom.

“The rooms are bugged.” Jinyoung explained, “The Captain hears everything we say there. So now, please tell me what happened?”

Youngjae, although shocked at Jinyoung’s words, soon continued with the same momentum,

“I told the Captain that I think you got a girlfriend and snuck out to meet her. He was _grilling_ me in his office, I couldn’t come up with anything else. But the mission is tomorrow and you missed all that training! It will be our first mission! Remember how excited we were? I just don’t know what’s going on with you. The least you owe me is an explanation. Where were you? What’s all this shadiness?”

“Youngjae… I-I don’t know where to begin. For your own safety, I don’t want to tell you.”

“For my safety? We are soldiers. There is no such thing as safety. Kid me not!”

“No, Youngjae, it could get so much worse than this. Believe me, I‘ve seen it.” Jinyoung shuddered, remembering back to finding Mark beaten and left to die in that cell.

“Are you and Mark up to something? Am I not your friend anymore?”

“That’s not it! Not at all!...But come on, we have a mission tomorrow, let’s go to sleep! I know I’ve made you upset and –“

“ _Upset_ is not the word, Jinyoung. I’m upset when the battery in my game console dies. Upset when the cafeteria food is cold in the middle and boiling hot on the rims. This – _this_ is more than that.”

“I don’t want to put you in danger. _Please._ You will see what I did tomorrow.”

“What you _did_? You _did_ something? Oh God, Jinyoung…” Youngjae panicked, smacking his palm against his forehead.

“Shh…let’s go to sleep. Sleep on my bed tonight. We’ve not cuddled in ages.”

“Yes, we’ve not, because _you_ weren’t here.”

Sighed Youngjae, his anger fading into sadness as he wrapped his arms around Jinyoung, roughly furrowing his nose into the crook of the man’s neck. Jinyoung placed one hand on the back of Youngjae’s head and the other around his waist, trying to comfort his friend. He knew he was acting selfish, leaving Youngjae behind so many times to slip living a forbidden, second life.

What should have been an exciting and important day tomorrow turned into a fearful day, and Youngjae didn’t want to know what his teammate got himself into. They remained in uncomfortable silence for the rest of the night, with Youngjae’s head lying on Jinyoung’s chest, hardly getting enough sleep.

 

Things only got worse in the morning, when the unit was on their way, everyone singing and cheering toward their first anticipated victory, just to arrive and wait three hours for the diving unit to declare,

“There are no sirens here.”  


The Captain made another announcement immediately upon their return to the base.

“This is the second time someone sabotaged a mission. We are starting an internal investigation. Someone either messed up the coordinates of the ship or gave us fake coordinates altogether. We believe the traitor might be someone from the upper ranks this time, but we will still keep an eye on the units. Until we find out who did it, no one is allowed to leave the territory of the ROK.”

Youngjae tried to stay quiet during their way back, knowing that anyone could hear them if he questioned Jinyoung on the ship. But as soon as they arrived, he motioned for Jinyoung toward the bathroom, locking the door behind them.

“So this is what you did? You messed up the coordinates? You led us to the wrong location?”

Jinyoung lowered his head, trying to hug Youngjae. However, Youngjae pushed his hands away, tears gathering in his eyes.

“I didn’t mess up the coordinates. The coordinates were right.”

“Then how do you explain what happened? What were you doing all this time?”

“I…I warned the colony about the attack.”

Jinyoung looked up to meet Youngjae’s gaze, who started to walk backwards until his head bumped against the wall, the space too tiny for two people to fit into.

“This must be a nightmare.” Youngjae mumbled to himself, looking anywhere but at Jinyoung.

“I’m so sorry…I know it doesn’t make sense. I know you think I’m a traitor. I’m sorry…”

“Sorry won’t do, Jinyoung, what you did is _insane_. Why would you do that?! What about your parents? Did you forget about them?”

Even though the room was small and packed, Jinyoung could still hear his friend’s voice echo through.

‘ _Did you forget about them?_ ’

“After Mark disappeared, I went back to the colony that killed my parents. I met their leader and I realized the ROK didn’t teach us the truth about sirens.”

Youngjae furrowed his brows together, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“What do you mean?”

“Sirens are not evil. The leader never tried to kill me. I saw him cry…I saw him afraid, vulnerable. He laughed and lived almost like a human, but way less violent or blood-thirsty. We can’t take their freedom away, it’s not right. They are not the monsters we’ve been looking for. The government just wants to free up their colonies so they can build more military bases and fishing grounds there. It has nothing to do with how safe or dangerous the waters are. Sirens are not the enemy.”

Youngjae carefully listened, his mouth slightly parted as he tried to take in Jinyoung’s words. But they were repelled, the only thing keeping Youngjae from yelling at him was their, as per moment, fraying brotherhood.

“The siren charmed you away, man….He did something to you. You got brainwashed. You are talking nonsense.”

“That was my exact reaction when Mark told me about the siren he met, but -”

“Oh, wait. So now he is also in love with one? Both of you? Do you not see the pattern?”

Youngjae was right in a sense – all the people Jinyoung had ever met that tried to save sirens were people who loved one themselves. On the other hand, history has many accounts of how love changed its course, giving a reason to ask _why_ when nothing else could.

“He didn’t do anything, Youngjae. I had my ear devices on. I simply realized that my parents wouldn’t want me to hunt down innocent people. Or mercreatures – whatever. The ROK is not what I stand for anymore.”

“But you are in love with that merman, right?”

Jinyoung swallowed hard before nodding.

“But it’s not love that speaks from me. Neither from Mark. Even if we didn't feel the way we do, hurting and hunting them down is still wrong. It’s objective.”

“What about your parents’ death?”

“I won’t lie – I’m still…I’m still hurt over it. Not mad anymore, but if you take a lion’s cubs away, can you really call them monsters for attacking you? If you disturb a bee’s hive, can you really call them evil for stinging you? We’ve been taking colony after colony away from them. They lost their homes so many times. They are forced into places where they don’t belong. The long-term answer to my parents’ death would be finding a way to get sirens and humans to leave each other alone.”

“Good luck with that…” Youngjae huffed, uncrossing his arms. “You didn’t solve much with warning that colony. The ROK could still find them. Perhaps, it could even be our next mission.”

“I know. I know. But I just couldn’t…I could not _let it_ happen. I had nightmares. I was collapsing into myself. At least they can survive a little longer now.”

“What about you? What are you going to do? It doesn’t seem like there’s much left keeping you here.”

“I will give in my request for honorary discharge tomorrow.” Jinyoung replied, reaching for Youngjae’s hands, intertwining their pinky fingers.

“I’m sorry. I let you down…I’m a horrible friend.”

Youngjae’s lips turned into a soft, kind smile as he kicked himself away from the wall.

“Even though I’m still not sure I believe everything you said…I would rather have a friend who does something stupid for the right reasons than have someone do the right thing for the wrong reasons. So you can stop apologizing…I assume the same story goes for Mark?”

Once Jinyoung nodded, Youngjae’s arms opened wide, engulfing Jinyoung in an embrace that muffled the man’s quivering sigh.

“I love you, Jinyoung. You and Mark will always stay my best friends. But you know I can’t leave. I owe my mother a couple of years here.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. But I hope you will change your mind about sirens someday.”

“ _Someday_. But loving one is surely not the way. You can’t do much with a half-fish.”

Jinyoung giggled at Youngjae’s inappropriateness, wiping away his tears that escaped him with the back of his hand.

“You would be surprised at the things you can actually do. It’s very…fulfilling. I feel complete when I’m with Jaebum.” Jinyoung blushed, knowing there were no accurate words to describe the kind of bond one can have with their former enemy, or between two different creatures.

“So that’s his name? The one you gave him?”

“No, they have their own names. I know, it’s Korean and human. We didn’t learn anything about this at the Academy.”

“I kind of see what you meant now.” Youngjae said, looking at Jinyoung with that signature smile that showed all his teeth.

“I won’t miss much about the ROK but you...I will call you every day to make sure you are doing your laundry.”

“Stop it, mom.” Youngjae pouted, his heart soaking in Jinyoung’s affection so that it would last him long after he will be gone.

 

But things didn’t go as planned, which seemed to be a reoccurring theme in Jinyoung’s life. When he visited the Captain’s office the next day to give in his notice, the Captain urged him to stay.

“Take a seat Jinyoung. Let’s _chat_.”

Jinyoung hesitantly sat down, pressing his legs nervously against the chair.

“I didn’t question you on why you snuck out – yes, I’m obviously aware that you did. You are a young man, I assume…I _hope_ …that you left for a reason related to that, and I would rather have you mingle with someone outside the unit family than inside. But we also had several arguments over your grades. They still haven’t improved, and you are lacking in your performance during practice missions. We just had someone sabotage our first real hunt yesterday. Now, you’re at my office with this request.” The Captain said, lifting and shaking the paper in his hand. “I hope you see where I’m going with all this.”

“I promise it wasn’t me, Captain. I know I’ve been acting weird…I’m just still shocked at what happened to Mark. Things have been difficult lately.” Bluffed Jinyoung.

“If things were so difficult, then why haven’t you visited our therapist?”

“I-I didn’t want to ask for help until I felt like it was necessary, sir.”

The Captain leaned forward, examining Jinyoung’s face.

“I think you are hiding something from me. And considering that the internal investigation is still ongoing, I can’t grant you the discharge. Until the traitor is punished, no one can leave the base, as I’ve stated before in my announcement. Continue with your studies diligently, perhaps you might even change your mind and decide to stay. For now, you are still an official ROK sailor, and your actions represent us. I want to believe you, Jinyoung. But I hope you know that the punishment is severe and that I won’t have mercy on whoever did it, even if that traitor is _you_.”

Jinyoung’s blood ran cold, barely managing to reply,

“I understand, sir. T-thank you for your time.”

The Captain rolled back in his chair, his eyes following Jinyoung’s every move. And as soon as the boy left, he turned around to listen to the audio recordings in his room, trying to see if Youngjae would know something. Yet the bugs only picked up on incoherent whispers, too chaotic to make much out of it.

The sailor was lucky this time.  


Jinyoung wasn’t certain about the punishment the Captain was referring to, but he knew death was the only consistent outcome in any case. They either break him down or break him apart. He knew he had to leave before more suspicion arises and all the cameras would turn on him. He went straight to the telephone booth, calling Mark.

“Listen Dave – “

“ _Dave_? Dave who? What is wrong with you? I was waiting for your phone call, it’s been more than a damn week!”

“ _Dave_. Please. I can’t say much, they might be listening in on the phone calls, but long story short - for some “unknown” reason, the sirens were not at their colony, and the Captain suspects someone sabotaged the mission so he started an internal investigation. Someone you’ve been missing very much will visit you near the Busan ports in about a week. Check each day. I have to go now.”

Mark failed to understand the latter but managed to respond calmly,

“Sure thing, my nephew.”

Jinyoung shook his head, trying not to laugh at Mark’s way of going along, hanging up on the phone instead.

But more than a bit anxious and confused, Mark slumped down onto the couch, a few minutes passing by before it suddenly hit him –

_Someone you’ve been missing very much will visit you near the Busan ports in about a week._

Jinyoung was not talking about himself.

He was referring to _Jackson_.

Jinyoung would bring him home.

@@@

However, things needed to take a speedy turn a couple of days later when Youngjae practically dragged Jinyoung out of the cafeteria, whispering,

“People are suspecting that you are the traitor. The security guards are especially suspicious, swearing that they’ve seen you steal a boat from the storage facility. What’s with your discharge?”

“The Captain didn’t grant it to me until they find and punish the person who sabotaged the mission.”

“Fuck, Jinyoung. Fuck fuck fuck f-“

Youngjae didn’t curse often other than while playing, but when he did, Jinyoung knew he was panicking.

“Please try to calm down.” Jinyoung asked, grabbing Youngjae by the shoulders, trying to keep him in place, but Youngjae was furiously shaking his head.

“How am I supposed to just calm down?! They will take you away! You have to leave _now_.”

Jinyoung knew his friend was right, but he wanted to keep his promise and take Jackson with him.

“Do you know where they store the belongings we came with?”

“Yes, I have a few friends who guard that building.”

“Could you get my car keys out? I’m leaving tonight.”

Youngjae nodded even before Jinyoung could finish his sentence.

Jinyoung found himself smiling at that, knowing that Youngjae got his back no matter what.

“I remember our first practice shooting...You and I, we killed it. We were always the best team.”

“Does ‘the best’ mean the first one to drift apart?” Youngjae replied, bittersweet.

Jinyoung’s heart ached at the tone, squeezing his friend’s shoulders tight.

“We didn’t drift apart. Even as our ways are separating, look at how strong this friendship remained. There is no one else I could count on more than you. I hope you know that Mark also misses you.”

Youngjae looked away, smiling softly at the past.

“Tell him I’ve been feeding Coco alone. Coco misses him.”

Jinyoung chuckled, fist-bumping Youngjae in the shoulder as they parted ways.

 

The sailors waited until nighttime to sneak Jackson out. The ROK cards that gave them access to certain buildings also opened the doors leading to the aquatic reservation, so Youngjae just had to distract the guards at the entry gates while Jinyoung would leave with Jackson through the emergency exit located in the back. Jinyoung knew there were multiple cameras checking for movements there, but considering that his sudden departure will be taken as an escape, covering his face became irrelevant. But it was important to disguise Jackson so they wouldn’t count up the colonies and try to find him. To protect Jackson’s identity, he took out a large bag from the storage facility used for collecting injured or dead bodies, planning to hide the siren in it.

Mark spoke so much about Jackson, Jinyoung was sure he would recognize him without any additional reference. The separate aquariums also had the colonies’ names and coordinates screwed to the front, so he knew the Korean navy wouldn’t have too many reservations filled from China’s ports.

Youngjae and Jinyoung met in the bathroom before the mission, going over the plan one last time.

“We will leave in five minutes, ten minutes before curfew. That way, no one will be out by the time we start but it won’t be too strange that we are still outside.”

“They will know it was you. Once you leave, they will be looking for you. Where will you go?”

“I learned Japanese in college and Mark learns fast. We will go to Fukue-jima of the Goto Islands. It’s the closest island to where Jaebum took his colony. Small population, peaceful, and outside of South Korea’s jurisdiction. I could be granted asylum there even if the ROK finds me. The Japanese are known for a lot of their siren preservation efforts. I have the best chances of survival there. Any other place would be too far for Jaebum and I want to stay near the sea.”

“I also speak some Japanese! I will meet you there.”

“ _Someday?_ ” Jinyoung grinned.

“Yes. _Someday_. Tell Jaebum to anticipate! Wait for me, Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung’s grin widened, forming chubby wrinkles around his eyes.

“I will wait.”

It was a promise.

“You will be the number one student at the Academy now. A bright future is ahead of you, Youngjae.”

“Nothing will ever be the same without you and Mark. They can give me another team, but they can’t give me a new family.”

Jinyoung comically clutched at his shirt, indicating that his heart was in pain. Youngjae laughed, playfully punching Jinyoung in the stomach.

“You were the most dedicated to this whole thing out of everyone…I can’t believe how things have changed during this year without us noticing.” Youngjae said, lightly shaking his head.

“Things didn’t change. These sings were always there... I was just a bad case of the “tunnel vision”. Don’t believe everything they will teach you here.”

Youngjae smiled knowingly.

“Brothers for life, Jinyoung. Wait for me at the islands or call me if you need help. I will do what I can. This isn’t a goodbye.”

Jinyoung knew it would be difficult to part, but Youngjae was nevertheless the kind of friend who will be a tough act to follow.

 

As planned, Jinyoung easily spotted Jackson inside one of the only Chinese colonies the ROK kept.

“They came to torture us again…but at such weird time? They usually come in the morning.” One of the sirens spoke in Chinese.

“I’ll bite their fingers off.” Said Jackson, reaching to hold his friends protectively.

Jinyoung began to climb up to the top of the aquarium using the ladder beside it, his hands and knees wobbling from the fear of getting caught. He stopped mid-way, holding onto the stainless-steel rungs, his shoulders bearing the weight of the world. He felt like he will fall. Fall and fail. But may there ever be a good time to disregard self-doubt, Jinyoung took it upon himself to do so now as he continued to climb, calling for Jackson.

“Jackson? I’m looking for a merman called Jackson?”

It sounded as pathetic out loud as it did in his head.

Confused upon hearing his name, Jackson swam up.

“How would you know my name? I don’t remember you.”

“From Mark. I’m a friend of his. I’m here to take you to him.”

Jackson blinked at him dumbfounded before his eyes widened in realization,

“He sent you here to save me? So he didn’t forget about me?!” He exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he clasped after Jinyoung, almost crushing the sailor in his embrace.

“But what about my friends?” He asked with a voice of utter sadness, looking back at the other sirens below. They were all wounded, Jackson’s entire body covered in cuts.

These were certainly not the sirens the ROK showed Jinyoung.

He found himself stumbling on his own words, the sole answer he could give Jackson breaking his heart.

“I can only take you…Mark tried to save all of you but they caught him long before he had the chance. I’m so sorry…but he _needs_ to see you. You have to come with me.”

Jinyoung could hear the other sirens murmur something to Jackson, waving their hands. Jackson let go of Jinyoung, and for a moment, the sailor thought Jackson had refused to go with him after all. But then, the merman hugged the others, giving each of them a kiss on the forehead before swimming back up, letting Jinyoung pull him out of the water.  


Jinyoung firmly grabbed the steering wheel of his car once seated, memories taking him back to a year ago when he parked here, ready to start a new life.

Now, he was about to leave it all behind, going back to somewhere closer to where he started. It was hard to leave without regrets, but he somehow managed, seeing a picture of him with his parents at the zoo taped beside the wheel. There was just enough space on the picture for Jaebum to fit on Jinyoung’s lap, like it was meant to be.

“Please drive carefully.” Jackson murmured as he slowly darted his fingers out of the bag, staring at the sailor from the backseat. Jinyoung chuckled wickedly, pushing on the pedals, driving as fast as he could despite Jackson’s yelping and protesting. He knew the ROK will track his car down as soon as they find it missing, so he needed to win time.

Fortunately, the Busan port was only a few hours of drive away from the ROK’s military base, giving enough time to get there before the navy would start looking for him in the morning.

He parked two miles away from the harbor; far enough that they won’t suspect he jumped into the sea but close enough that he could carry Jackson on his back. It was the time before dawn, dark yet early with no one around to call the authorities on him.

“I will let you lay on my back once we get there so you can rest while I swim” Jackson said, keeping Jinyoung strong while he panted under his weight.

“You are heavier than Mark or Youngjae.” Jinyoung grunted, his spine painfully bending under Jackson.

“Hey! It’s all muscle.” The merman pouted, flexing his arms.

Jackson’s enthusiasm kept the journey less tiring, possessing a way of filling people up with energy out of nowhere, his vigorousness contagious. Jaebum was different, shyer and mature in different ways from Jackson. He helped Jinyoung feel safe and comfortable, his presence a meaningful milestone in the sailor’s life.

“Do they…torture you guys, or what are all those wounds?” Jinyoung asked after a short while, fearing the answers Jackson may give him.

“It becomes torture when they use chemical weapons. They are constantly testing and looking for the fastest methods to wipe us out. But my boys and I always resist. That’s why I have so many bruises and cuts!” Jackson said, pride lingering in his voice. “My boys will teach them a lesson. They can’t break us.”

Jinyoung smiled at how similar Jackson sounded to Mark when he found him in that cell. The immovable object that is Mark met its unstoppable force in Jackson.

“But don’t you get placed in the public aquariums if you don’t fight back?”

“The public wouldn’t want to see limbless and lifeless merpeople. The public aquarium is also considered shameful among the sirens. That’s where you go when they killed the siren in you. But you work…I mean _worked_ for the ROK, didn’t they tell you these things?”

“Apparently not…They were probably waiting to brainwash us enough so we would blindly accept it.”  


Once they arrived at the port and got into the waters, Jinyoung laid down against the merman’s body to let him swim them the rest of the way. It felt like he was on a floating mattress or a dolphin, with Jackson frequently rising above the surface, letting Jinyoung breathe before diving back in.

Mark was already waiting on his boat, close enough for Jinyoung to find him. Jackson was not about to make it easy on them though.

“Let’s scare Mark.” The siren said, smiling cheekily at Jinyoung as he let him off his back. “Swim ahead, so he will think you didn’t bring me. I will come from the other end and splash water on him.”

“Do we really have to do this?” Jinyoung whined, Jackson being just a little too extra for him at the moment.

“Yes. Let’s go!”

The sailor sighed in defeat, doing as Jackson asked him.

Once Mark noticed Jinyoung swimming towards him, he opened his arms expectantly, wondering where Jackson was.

“You didn’t find him? Did they kill him? Oh God…”  Mark mumbled, paling like the fading full moon above them.

But before Jinyoung could explain what Jackson was up to, Mark was splashed in an unnecessary large volume of water from behind, his hair flipping over, obstructing his vision.

“Mark! Mark!” Jackson wailed excitedly, his tail continuing to splash water all over the place.

Mark turned around without fixing his hair, jumping off the boat like a madman would, with no regards to anything else in the world but to reunite with the voice he recognized as Jackson’s.

Jinyoung felt like his heart will beat out of his chest at the thought, watching Mark collide with Jackson as the two met half-way, the ex-sailor attempting to spin Jackson around foolishly. Even though he kept falling forward, the water not giving him enough grounding to lift Jackson up, it all looked as perfect as it could be. Mark had tears in his eyes, laughing the loudest Jinyoung had ever heard him. He almost couldn’t recognize his friend, Jackson turning him into a new man.

“I thought I would never see you again!” Jackson cried, peppering kisses all over Mark’s face and neck. Mark giggled, his smile painfully stretching his face as he let Jackson work off his excitement like a puppy who couldn’t contain himself.

“I thought I would die without seeing you again.” Mark admitted, getting Jackson to stop in his movements, just to start kissing him again with even more eagerness.

Jinyoung found himself smiling along with Mark, the waves of the sea seeming to carry much more weight to them all of a sudden, which used to feel so light, and the sour salt in the air taste ironically sweet.

The sailor swallowed hard, watching the lovers chase after one another like children in love who feel like the world is just the two of them. He watched Mark go under the water without a second thought, not coming up for long seconds, the shadows of Jackson and him spinning around underneath the only reminder that Jinyoung was not alone.

Watching Mark be so carefree and almost mold bodies with Jackson was like someone lighted Jinyoung on fire, his heart yearning to see Jaebum.

@@@

He woke up the next day to seeing Mark’s and his face plastered on the “Wanted” list of the local newspaper. The Captain figured things out in the end. At least he lived by the rules he preached – trusting no one, and either hunting or being the hunted.

Now, Jinyoung was the one hunted.

And in that fashion, they set sailing on Mark’s boat, with hardly enough food to make it to the Jeju Islands safely, but they managed, trading every jewelry and valuable belong they owned with the merchants for Japanese currency. Jackson accompanied them, leading the way.

“I sense the presence of a colony around here. Perhaps it’s your merman’s colony?” Jackson asked, swimming beside the boat.

“That could be. But we must get to Fukue-jima first.”

“I can feel the despair in your voice.”

“That was very poetic, Jackson-ah.” Mark chuckled, but Jackson grinned and shook his head.

“Yes, thank you, but I also meant it practically. Sirens can have a vague sense of what the other person feels. That’s part of how we can charm them with our voice, because we can tell they are in need of something.”

“But I thought sirens only attract people to protect themselves?” Jinyoung pondered.

“That’s the majority and the rule. But as there are better and worse people, there are better and worse sirens as well.”

Jinyoung looked down at his hands, fumbling with them aimlessly. Mark noticed, nudging him on his side,

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…I was just wondering if Jaebum used his powers on me to save his colony. Perhaps now, he wouldn’t care to see me all that much. Maybe there are other sailors he gets along with. Maybe I’m not that special to him...”

“Come back here and double check.” Jackson said, “Call for him, and if he comes to you, he loved you. If he doesn’t…then I will love you instead.”

Mark snorted, raising his eyebrows as Jackson began to blow kisses at Jinyoung, bucking under the water when it seemed like Mark will throw his shoe at him.

“Is my Markie jealous?”

“Oh, just wait…”

But the thought of living without Jaebum kept Jinyoung restless for days before he could sail back.  


They rented a small apartment near the beach, priced cheap because of its placement too close to the rising tides. Jackson visited each day, in the secrecy of the night, waking up Mark with soft kisses on his lips and collarbones when the man fell asleep in the sand, waiting for him. Mark would still pretend to be asleep even after he was long woken up by Jackson’s pampering touches, unable to help his greediness for the merman’s affection.

“I know you’re awake, Markie.”

Mark suppressed a chuckle at that, beginning to snore louder.

“Markie…stop being a baby and kiss me already!”

The man eventually couldn’t help but laugh, exposing himself. The siren’s eyes sparkled, sneaking himself under Mark’s arm to lay his head on his shoulder.

“Can I get a kiss?” He keened, blushing when Mark’s eyes opened to lustfully gaze into his, pulling in the merman for the long-awaited kiss.  
  
Their cheesy and sloppy love-affairs only tortured Jinyoung, who couldn’t see Jaebum soon enough, taking the very first chance he got a few days later to pay him a visit.

When he raised his thumb toward the island and it covered the entire area, he knew he was about the distance Jackson said the colony was. So he sat down and waited, wearing a bucket shaped hat to protect his skin from the sun, unsure of how long he will have to wait.

And he indeed waited for a long while, almost to the point of giving up. He felt like sobbing, until he finally saw the waters bubble up and Jaebum dip his head out, a Cheshire-cat grin plastered on his face.

Jinyoung bit down on his lower lip, dangling his hands off the boat as Jaebum intertwined their fingers.

The sailor pulled Jaebum onto the boat, falling on his back with the merman on top. Jaebum continued to grin at him, rubbing his head into the crook of Jinyoung’s neck, wiggling his tail.

“My Sailor. I missed you.” He whispered, his eyes twinkling like stars.

“I couldn’t wait to see you. I was so worried that…” Jinyoung began but pressed his lips shut, not wanting to finish the sentence. Jaebum slid his hand down to Jinyoung’s stomach, eagerly feeling for the muscle peeking through the wrinkled-up shirt.

“Worried about what?”

“That you wouldn’t want to see me again.”

“Don’t be silly. You were all I could think about. I started collecting pearls again because they reminded me of your smile…” Jaebum admitted, his cheeks turning pink. Jinyoung’s heart was about to explode, his hands unconsciously reaching for Jaebum’s face to bring him closer for a kiss.

Jinyoung felt goosebumps all over his body at the feeling of Jaebum’s lips, the merman’s wavy hair hanging around them like curtains. While kissing, the sailor got an idea and reached above his head with one hand, searching for his hat, finding it and placing it on Jaebum.

Jaebum leaned back from the kiss startled, tugging at the hat on his head. Jinyoung giggled, the wide bottom of the bucket hat letting way of his hair darting out.

“Why are you laughing at me?” Jaebum pouted, trying to take the hat off but Jinyoung stopped him, sitting up to place a tender kiss on Jaebum’s cheek.

“I’m not laughing at you. It just really suits you.” He said, tilting the hat back to reveal more of Jaebum’s hair and face. “You are very attractive.”

Jaebum blushed a deeper shade, a color almost matching his tail. He dragged his fingertips around the sides of Jinyoung’s face and chin, wondering,

“Would I look good with a stubble like yours?”

“I didn’t have time to shave yet, sorry.”

“I kind of like it.” Jaebum said, pecking Jinyoung’s lips, “Although it pokes me a little bit.”

“Then I will shave next time.”

“You are not in your uniform. Did you leave the navy?”

“Yes, or more like the navy left me. They figured out that I messed up their mission, so I had to run away. I live on the Goto Islands now.”

Jaebum’s eyes widened, looking behind himself where Jinyoung pointed the island was.

“You did all this for me?”

“For the most part, yes. But… _well_ …before I left, I also snuck a merman out. He’s together with the friend I escaped with, so there was no way I would leave him behind. They are both at the island with me.”

“You snuck a merman out?! You are a crazy man, Jinyoung.”

“I couldn’t leave him there! After being with you, I know how awful it would be to never see you again. I didn’t want my friend to feel that way. They went so long without each other. I knew my time at the ROK was long overdue anyway.”

“I…I pretty much ruined your life.” Jaebum said, boring his gaze onto the decks in guilt as he tried to move away from Jinyoung. But Jinyoung wrapped his arms around the merman, pulling him against his chest.

“Don’t you ever think that! All the friends I will ever need are by my side now. And I have _you_ …I think I’m good.” Jinyoung hummed, placing a kiss on top of Jaebum’s head. Jaebum’s eyelids fluttered close, trying to engrave the feeling of the sailor’s kiss on his skin.

“I would like you to meet that friend and his siren…And hopefully, in the near future, also meet my other friend who helped me sneak the merman out. Would it be fine if I brought them here tomorrow?”

“Yes, I would love to meet them!”

“Great!...But today though, you are all _mine_.” Jinyoung smiled mischievously, his thumbs starting to draw light circles on Jaebum’s waist, making the merman jolt up and whimper.

“J-Jinyoung…” He said weakly, making Jinyoung laugh out loudly, almost evil, as he continued to tease the merman.

“All I could think about was you.” Jinyoung confessed, his voice husky from need.

“I was dreaming of you.”

“Really? Like what?”

Jaebum’s entire face went as red as an angry sunburn.

“T-that…we talked.”

“Talked? Just talked?” The sailor quirked an eyebrow at him, smirking.

Jaebum shook his head, making the hat fall off as he nuzzled back against Jinyoung’s neck, hiding his burning face under the sailor’s chin.

“Then, what else?”

“That you let me touch your legs again…”

“You can touch my legs. You can touch me anywhere. It doesn’t have to be just a dream.”

Jaebum’s breath hitched at the offer.

“But in my dreams…I-I also had legs. And I could…do the things humans do with each other.”

“Humans do with each other? I need you to elaborate on that.” Jinyoung wasn’t sure how he managed to sound confident despite all the heat rushing to his groin.

“You asked me to wrap my legs around you…and that you lifted them up and bit down on my thighs. I wish I could know what that feels like…”

Jinyoung moaned at the merman’s fantasy, but was soon alerted to the feeling of Jaebum’s hands roaming over his zipper.

“I wish I could give you _everything_ you want…I wish I was fully a human, and be _enough_. To give you anything, like another human could.”

“Oh, Jaebum…” Jinyoung whispered, his hands gently brushing over the merman’s heated cheeks. “You _are_ enough.”

But the siren ignored his words and proceeded to pull his zipper down, palming him over his boxer. Jinyoung groaned at the feeling, his hips bucking into the merman’s hand. Yet as good as it felt, he knew Jaebum was doing this because he felt insecure, and the sailor couldn’t allow that.

He found the strength in himself to resist his urges and place the siren’s hand over his heart instead, breaking Jaebum’s focused gaze on his crotch.

“You don’t have to do this to make me happy.”

“But I want to give you everything I can. I don’t know how, but you can teach me.” Replied the merman, hooking his fingers under the elastic band of Jinyoung’s briefs, glancing at him for permission. “Teach me?”

Jinyoung was taken aback, and as much as he craved for anything the merman could give him, he decided it was more important to make Jaebum feel loved for who he is and not for what he can or can’t give.

“I know you can feel that I need you. My friend’s merman told me about that siren thing. And I really do want you…but I also want to take things slower. I want to teach you other things first. I want to see your home and let you see mine. There are so many more games I could show you. I could cook you other kinds of dishes. I want you but I’ve not _earned_ you yet. I want to deserve you.”

The merman’s eyes widened, flowers blooming in the pit of his belly. He breathlessly laced his arms around the sailor before nodding, exchanging a slow but passionate kiss. The sailor’s hands rested on his sides, warming Jaebum up in the midst of the cold sea breeze. His tongue circled and explored Jaebum’s mouth, taking his time to taste the merman, hugging and caressing him for the rest of the afternoon.

@@@

Jaebum and Jackson got along surprisingly well. They kept racing in the waters on who can swim faster or do the best backflip. On days Jinyoung and Mark would stay out at the waters late into the night, they could hear the two sirens singing for one another, their melody lulling the sailors to sleep.

“Do you ever miss your colony?” Jaebum asked the other merman as they swam inside a huge coral reef.

“It can get lonely sometimes. But I’m used to migrating a lot.”

“You’ve earned my trust. Jinyoung’s friends are my friends, too. If you ever wish to, you could join my colony. You are smart and able, you would get along well with the rest of us.”

“Would you really let me stay?” Jackson asked, jumping into Jaebum’s arms. Jaebum nodded, to which the other merman placed a long and sloppy kiss on his face. Jaebum chuckled despite his momentary discomfort, trying to get Jackson off of him. But it was to little avail, and he ended up bringing Jackson to the colony in his arms.

“Let me introduce you to my advisor, Yugyeom. He is young but brave, a great negotiator.” Jaebum said, great satisfaction and pride showing on his face as he motioned for Yugyeom to come closer.

“You don’t seem like you are from here. But I like your accent.” Yugyeom told Jackson.

“I’m from other waters but my human moved to the Goto Islands, so I decided to stay. Jaebum and my human are best friends.”

The other merman smiled with a hint of sadness, glancing at the ends of his tail. Jaebum inhaled deeply, trying to contain himself from interrupting their conversation, knowing what Yugyeom was about to say.

“I also had a human…but he abandoned me.”

“Who would abandon you?” Jackson exclaimed, his face contorting in a frown.

“He promised me he would find me. But it’s been years and I never saw him again. He was an experienced sailor, I think if he wanted to find me, he would have. He always did before. I think he settled down with another human…or another merman.”

Jackson didn’t need to hear more as he moved toward him in an instant, spinning Yugyeom in a hug.

“I would hate to lose my human. Although they can be hard to understand sometimes, they are able to love us like no other creature. Jaebum’s human left his country for our leader. He worked for the navy and threw it all away! They used to be enemies! Humans are crazy, but you can’t help but love yours.”

“I’ve not interacted with one in forever…c-can I meet your human?”

“If you promise you won’t seduce him.” Jackson winked, but Yugyeom nevertheless shook his head. Jaebum sighed in relief, patting Jackson on the back.

“I will come back for you tomorrow morning.”  


Mark and Jinyoung woke up in the boat near the colony, their heads dull from the headache of sleeping on the rock-hard decks. Mark grunted, calling for Jackson.

“Jackson-ah. Next time, please wake us up if we fall asleep. You forgot to remind us last time, too.”

“But you sleep so beautifully, Markie!” Jackson cooed, ducking his head out of the waters to hold himself up with the side of the boat.

“Look at me. I’m sure I don’t look like a million bucks now.” He said, pointing to the bags under his eyes. Jackson just smiled, placing a kiss on Mark’s hand.

“You look _better_ than a million bucks.”

Jinyoung decided not to comment, rubbing his eyes with some water instead to wake himself up. But he suddenly noticed a tail beside his reflection not resembling Jaebum’s.

He urgently shook Mark by the arm,

“T-there’s someone else under the boat!”

“Oh, yes!” Jackson explained hurriedly. “I met Jaebum’s advisor who wanted to meet you two. He had a human companion who abandoned him, and he was curious to speak with people again. Is that okay?”

Mark and Jinyoung looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders.

“I guess we are celebrities now.” Jinyoung said, his head hurting all the more when he was introduced to the stranger’s sheepishly smiling face.

_That turquoise line in his hair looked strangely familiar from somewhere._

It only hit Jinyoung a couple of days later on a sunny Thursday morning while all of them were out on the sea.

“I think I know who Yugyeom’s guy was.” He whispered to Mark one day, watching the three sirens play a little further away from the boat.

“How would you? Did you go to college with him?”

“I wish…but I think he was the tour guide on the boat who died with my parents. He said the merman and him kept chasing each other. He called the merman something like Gyeomie.”

“That does sound an awful lot like _Yugyeom_.”

“He said he had a turquoise tail and the same highlight in his hair.”

“Oh, shit.” Mark cursed under his breath, covering his mouth with his hand. Jinyoung looked at him with his eyebrows knit together, the two staring back at the mercreatures playing.

“Should I tell him?”

“He thinks the guy abandoned him. He ought to know. Damn…I’ll distract Jackson and Jaebum. I will show them my backflips. I wasn’t a competitive swimmer through all those years for nothing.” Mark offered, his lips curling into a hungry grin to impress Jackson.

So when Mark jumped into the waters, distracting the two older sirens, Yugyeom swam toward Jinyoung, the sailor carefully asking,

“Jackson told me your human abandoned you. What happened?”

“He promised he would come back to me but he never did.”

“How do you know he didn’t just…die?”

“How would he? He was young and healthy.”

“I meant…maybe by…you know, a storm?”

Jinyoung was beginning to sweat.

“I’ve seen him get out of storms before. He was a very talented sailor.”

“Sailors make mistakes. I made a bunch of them before.”

“I think he just found somebody else. He was always a little flamboyant…but I thought he loved me.”

The sailor cleared his throat. _Flamboyant…_ Fiery red hair could be considered flamboyant.

“What was his name?”

“Bammie. He was my Bammie…”

Jinyoung blanched, not wanting to say anything more even though he knew he had to.

“What’s wrong, Jinyoung?” Yugyeom asked, grabbing at the boat to pull himself closer. Jinyoung looked at him, his fingers curling around the siren’s fist.

“Was his hair red?”

“Yes! How did you know?” The merman squeaked, his voice helplessly shaking from excitement.

“I knew him.”

“You did? Oh wow! Can you…is there…maybe a way I could see him? That means you might know where he is now, right? Oh, _please,_ please, please, can you tell me where he is? Could you – “

“I-I don’t think that is feasible...”

“How come? Is it another merman? You can tell me. Did he give up on sailing?”

“None of that, Yugyeom.”

“Then what happened? I _need_ to see him again. Please, Jinyoung.” He said, his lips turning droopy as he blinked up at the sailor.

Jinyoung felt as if he will collapse into himself in any second, like a dying star, the molecules that make him up simply disintegrate. But he held onto Yugyeom’s hands tighter until his knuckles turned white.

“He died. Years ago. He died with my parents. But – “

“No! That is a lie. Jinyoung, why would you lie to me? It’s okay if he found someone else, I can handle _that_.”

“Yugyeom, I’m not lying. I know you could handle _that_ , but I rather hope you can also handle _this_. But let me finish! Stay right here.” He said, pulling on Yugyeom’s hands, not wanting the merman to swim away in panic.

“I remember that he told me, “ _There’s only one problem with sirens, Jinyoung. They don’t have to try to seduce you. It will happen on its own. I can’t name a single sailor who met a mercreature and didn’t catch feelings. Sailors who had seen sirens didn’t die from their voice. They fell in love! And one way or another, that love for them led to their demise. I already know my baby Gyeomie is my destiny. And what a destiny it is! I will either suffocate while kissing him or die somehow along the way that leads me to him._ ””

“H-his destiny? He called me his destiny?” Yugyeom mumbled, his bottom lip trembling.

“Yes. I…I don’t remember everything he said, but I certainly remember that he said you were beautiful, and that you have a bright smile…and that you laugh like a big baby?”

“Yes…yes, he said that before.” Yugyeom agreed, his lips curling into a wobbly smile despite the sobs escaping him.

“He was heartbroken that he couldn’t meet you. He said he sails the waters every day so he could find you again. He took on tour jobs as a hobby so he could be on the waters and see you.”

“ _S-see m-me_ ….B-Bammie…” Yugyeom wailed, trashing his head against Jinyoung’s hands. Jinyoung looked at Mark, and Mark nodded back, turning toward Jackson and Jaebum to explain what was happening. Jaebum’s face paled, remembering back to the days Yugyeom roamed around the colony, crying all day about BamBam.

“I told him BamBam would never leave him. I watched that guy closely.”

“Ah, Jaebum, the nation’s father.” Jackson grinned, poking Jaebum on the side.

“I always made sure he came home from his travels and that the sailor was safe to be around. That human loved him. I felt it. I felt that need in his heart when he was with Yugyeom.”  


“So he n-never actually a-abandoned me…” Yugyeom said, his body shaking from a mix of sobbing and laughter. “He _loved_ me.”

“He did. He died the way he wanted to. By the sea…on his way to _you_.”

Yugyeom wept, and Jinyoung climbed off the boat to hug Yugyeom close, imagining how much pain he would be in if he waited for Jaebum to come home to him, and he never did, leaving Jinyoung to think he found someone else.

Death never gives comfort, but there was a small comfort in knowing that it was the only thing that could stop BamBam from reaching Yugyeom. It had to be a force that powerful to stand up to him. Jinyoung didn’t say, but he was sure, that even in his final breaths, BamBam thought of his Gyeomie.

At last, the Captain was wrong about many things, but there was some truth to when he said,

“ _It’s still a widely debated topic whether sirens are real or not. That is because those who see it never live to tell the tale.”_

Jinyoung and Jaebum glanced toward each other, time stopping between them. Jinyoung knew Jaebum would also be his destiny one day. And as Jackson tried to piggy-back on Mark, making the man lose his breath from laughing too hard, it seemed more than possible that Mark long signed off his life to Jackson as well.  


And after a few months, it almost felt like their family was complete, until a sailor stumbled by the island in an ROK uniform, a face only familiar to Mark and Jinyoung.

“So that “ _someday_ ” has arrived?” Jinyoung asked, rushing up to greet Youngjae.

“Not yet. But it’s soon winter so they let us come _home_ for the holidays.”

“Welcome _home_ , then.” Mark sang, launching his arm around Youngjae’s neck. “You buffed up. What do they feed you with?”

“Protein and hate.” He replied, revealing the bruises under his uniform. “They send us to some crazy places. Almost half of the cohort is gone. I got new team members three times already.”

“Just get out of there.” Mark said, letting go of Youngjae.

“I can’t. Someone has to mess up the missions every now and then.” He smiled at Jinyoung, the other’s lips curling into a smirk.

“How many did you save?”

“I lost count. But sooner or later, they will find out it’s me and they will kick me out, even though I’m better at hiding my trails than you did.”

“I paved the way for you, that’s why.”

“If there’s anyone who paved anything, that’s me.” Mark pointed to himself with his thumbs.

“Enough, guys! Let’s go out and eat something. I’m hungry, did anyone think of that?” Youngjae whined, his stomach growling in agreement.

“Our house is right over there. Take some clothing out of the drawers and change into those. Your uniform would draw attention, especially since it’s not Japanese. Mark and I will be there in a minute.” Youngjae cheered in response, wasting no time to jog up the stairs.

They watched him disappear into the house until Mark spoke,

“It’s far from over, right? The Captain is still looking for us.”

“Probably.”

“I assume you also know he will find us through Youngjae?”

“Probably.” Jinyoung repeated.

“Alright, then…Where should we move next?”

“We won’t move.”

“What do you mean we won’t move? If they can’t drag us to the court, they will drag us under the ground.”

“We will confront the ROK. This can’t go on forever. Remember the organizations you said you worked for? It’s time to get in touch with them again. This is only the beginning.”

Mark whistled in approval.

“So Jaebum really changed you, huh?…For the better, if I might add.”

“I could say the same about you. By the way, did you and Jackson get married?”

Mark looked at him confused, to which Jinyoung vaguely pointed to his ring finger.

“The cut. Both of you have it on the same finger. It looks like a ring.”

“Ah, yes. It was his idea. I told him about human relationships and I mentioned marriage. He loved it. I wanted to bring him an actual ring but I can get so clumpy, I knew I would lose it.”

“I love Jaebum so much…If we were humans, I would surely marry him.” Sighed Jinyoung. “Could living like this ever be enough? A human and a merman? Could we really make it last? Some days, I know we can make it. But other days, I want to dance with him, or wake up beside him in my bed, and I realize I can’t. Then, it can get hard.”

“I don’t know. But even if Jackson were a human, I don’t think I could ever get enough.” Mark answered, putting his hand on Jinyoung’s shoulder to help himself up.

“You will make it work. You’ve made it work after all this time, so don’t stress about it. Let’s think about what we’re going to eat instead.”

Jinyoung hummed after a long pause, burying his hands in his pocket as he caught up to Mark.

“Can we get some flatfishes to go? I will surprise Jaebum with them tomorrow. He loves them cooked.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A simple ending for Simple Things. :D Or perhaps not so simple.
> 
> In chapter 2, when the Captain says in his opening speech, * “All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.” it’s an actual quote from Winston Churchill. It was a driving idea behind this story, (hence the title) because I think his wisdom neglects to ask – whose freedom? Whose justice? Whose duty? Etc. Jinyoung searching for the truth was seeing the other side, that such “simple things” are not so simple after all. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the finale! I had a lot of fun writing this story. Because of obligations in my personal life, I had to write and edit Simple Things at the weirdest times, like during my lunch breaks and while I was commuting. (Also insert in-between the three days I had to borrow a friend’s laptop because mine crashed. T.T) But it certainly yielded countless rewards! Your feedback in all forms made it so worthwhile. Thank you very much (!!) for opening your hearts to it and I hope the AU lived up to your expectations. I could have elongated the story and add more chapters but this entire piece was a oneshot to begin with. (I hope it didn’t come off too rushed as a result). Thank you once again for joining!


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